Podcast 720: Blakemore & Minnesota Tubes: Part I

Emergency Medical Minute

Contributor: Dylan Luyten, MD

Educational Pearls:

• Minnesota Tube has an extra port for suctioning otherwise is the same as a Blakemore Tube
• Indicated in MASSIVE upper GI bleeding often due to esophageal varices
• Esophageal varices are dilated, tortuous vessels in the esophagus due to increased portal venous pressure that can bleeding into the upper GI tract
• Patients with massive upper GI bleed should be intubated prior to placing a Blakemore/Minnesota tube

References

Meseeha M, Attia M. Esophageal Varices. [Updated 2021 Aug 11]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2021 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK448078/

Biecker E. Portal hypertension and gastrointestinal bleeding: diagnosis, prevention and management. World J Gastroenterol. 2013;19(31):5035-5050. doi:10.3748/wjg.v19.i31.5035

Powell M, Journey JD. Sengstaken-Blakemore Tube. [Updated 2021 Jul 27]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2021 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK558924/

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

Summarized by John Spartz, MS4 | Edited by Erik Verzemnieks, MD

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