Thromboangiitis Obliterans (Buerger's Disease)

Thromboangiitis obliterans (TAO) is a devastating nonatherosclerotic disease that often leads to digit and limb loss as well as intractable ischemic rest pain. Patients with TAO are uniformly heavy users of tobacco. This disorder is characterized as a miscellaneous form of vasculitis affecting small- and medium-sized arteries and veins. TAO causes painful ischemic ulcers of the digits and unusually painful and inflammatory superficial thrombophlebitis. The key to early diagnosis of TAO is a high clinical index of suspicion in the appropriate patient scenario, exclusion of any other potential cause, abnormal results from an Allen's test, and arteriographic findings of segmental digital arterial occlusions with "corkscrew" collateral vessels. The primary and clearly most effective therapy for TAO is cessation of the use of all tobacco products, with avoidance of any environmental tobacco smoke inhalation. There has been recent enthusiasm for prostaglandin E therapy and the intramuscular injection of angiogenic growth factors. For patients in whom the disease is identified late or for those who are unable to discontinue cigarette smoking, however, a frequent result is multiple limb amputations.