Balloon tamponade of esophagogastric variceal hemorrhage is a lifesaving but challenging procedure. One difficulty that often arises is coiling of the tube in the oropharynx. We describe a novel use of the bougie as an external stylet to help guide placement of the balloon to help overcome this challenge.
We describe four cases in which the bougie was successfully utilized as an external stylet to place a tamponade balloon (3 Minnesota tubes, 1 Sengstaken-Blakemore tube) without any apparent complication. The straight end of the bougie is inserted approximately 0.5 cm into the most proximal of the gastric aspiration ports. The tube is then inserted into the esophagus under direct or video laryngoscopic visualization using the bougie to help \"push\" the tube into place as an external stylet. Once the gastric balloon is fully inflated and withdrawn to the gastroesophageal junction, the bougie is gently removed.
The bougie may be considered as an adjunct for placement of tamponade balloons for massive esophagogastric variceal hemorrhage when placement proves refractory to traditional techniques. We think this can be a valuable tool in the emergency physician\'s procedural repertoire.

Ectopic varices are an uncommon cause of gastrointestinal bleeding in patients with portal hypertension. A 43-year-old female with alcoholic cirrhosis developed massive hematochezia and hemorrhagic shock, requiring emergent angiography and image-guided intervention. Angiography revealed active extravasation from a branch of the right colic vein. The patient underwent percutaneous transhepatic embolization of the bleeding colic vein with technical success demonstrated on post-embolization angiography. Treatment of bleeding ectopic varices may require endoscopic, image-guided, or surgical approaches.