# Use of Point-of-care Ultrasound for Placement of a Gastric Tamponade Balloon

## TL;DR

This paper describes using point-of-care ultrasound to confirm placement of a gastric tamponade balloon in a patient with severe gastrointestinal bleeding.

## Contribution

The novel use of ultrasound by emergency physicians to verify gastric balloon placement in upper GI hemorrhage is highlighted.

## Key findings

- POCUS confirmed gastric balloon placement before full inflation in a critically ill patient.
- Ultrasound may be faster and safer than radiography for this purpose.
- There is limited prior literature on this application of ultrasound by emergency physicians.

## Abstract

A 30-year-old female with a history of alcoholic cirrhosis and esophageal varices presented with massive hematemesis. A gastric balloon tamponade device was subsequently placed to temporize variceal hemorrhage, and point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) was used to confirm the appropriate placement of the gastric balloon before complete inflation. We describe a novel use of ultrasound for use in severely ill patients with gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding.

A fluid-filled and distended stomach has long been recognized as a cause of a false-positive focused assessment with sonography in trauma exam but may also be a vital piece of information in the scenario of a patient with suspected upper GI hemorrhage. There is very little description in the literature of using POCUS to confirm the appropriate placement of a gastric tamponade balloon with none by emergency physicians.. Ultrasound may offer advantages over plain radiography in this application given its speed and safety; thus, its utility for this task is worth further investigation.