An Inexpensive Esophageal Balloon Tamponade Trainer

Abstract

Background Emergency medicine practitioners must be able to perform rare, life-saving procedures. One such example is esophageal balloon tamponade, which is complex, fraught with complications, and difficult to demonstrate and practice. Discussion We constructed a simple, inexpensive model esophagus and stomach that we attached to a mannequin, allowing emergency medicine residents to visualize and practice esophageal balloon tamponade device placement. Conclusion Our esophageal balloon tamponade model was easy to construct and allowed demonstration, conceptual visualization, and simulated performance of the procedure.