A bougie-facilitated technique for Minnesota tube placement was evaluated in a single case of life-threatening gastrointestinal hemorrhage after standard blind placement and traditional adjuncts (cold-water stiffening, laryngoscopy with Magill forceps) all failed.
Inserting the coudé tip of a bougie into the distal eyelet of the Minnesota tube allowed tandem advancement into the stomach, achieving successful placement and patient stabilization for definitive intervention.
Single case report with no comparative data; generalizability is very limited. Potential trauma risk of the bougie technique is noted but not formally assessed.
When standard Minnesota tube placement fails, threading a bougie through the distal eyelet may rescue the procedure. This technique may carry less trauma risk than previously described stiffened-wire methods, though evidence is limited to one case.
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