Sengstaken Blakemore tube

Sengstaken-Blakemore tube. The rounded lucency in the left upper quadrant on this CXR (yellow arrows) represents the inflated gastric balloon of a Sengstaken-Blakemore tube. The patient had presented with life-threatening haemorrhage from gastro-oesophageal varices. These tubes are less commonly employed nowadays, as in most cases variceal haemorrhage can be treated with endoscopic techniques. However, we still encounter them several times per year in our department due to the large cohort of patients with chronic liver disease at SVUH.