A Miller–Abbott tube is a tube used to treat obstructions in the small intestine through intubation.[1] It was developed in 1934 by William Osler Abbott and Thomas Grier Miller. The device is around 3 metres (9.8 ft)[2] long and has a distal balloon at one end. It is made up of two tubes, one for inflating the balloon when in the duodenum and one for the passage of water. While inserted, barium can be passed through them, and this, alongside radiography, can provide diagnostic information regarding a lesion. A mercury-filled bag has been used with these tubes to assist with decompression of an obstructed intestine, although there are recorded cases of these rupturing and sometimes causing mercury poisoning.[3][4][5]
References
edit- ^ Harris, Franklin (1944). "A New Rapid Method of Intubation with the Miller-Abbott Tube". Journal of the American Medical Association. 125 (11): 784. doi:10.1001/jama.1944.72850290003007a.
- ^ Wilkins, Lippincott Williams (2007). Critical Care Nursing Made Incredibly Easy!. p. 459. ISBN 978-1-58255-560-7.
- ^ Bredfeldt, J.E.; Moeller, DD (1978). "Systemic Mercury Intoxication Following Rupture of a Miller-Abbott Tube". American Journal of Gastroenterology. 69 (4): 478–80. PMID 685956.
- ^ Gourtsoyiannis, Nicholas C. (2002). Radiological imaging of the small intestine. p. 62. ISBN 978-3-540-65520-6.
- ^ Biography Archived 2011-07-19 at the Wayback Machine The College of Physicians of Philadelphia
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