Buerger Disease (Thromboangiitis Obliterans)

Abstract

Thromboangiitis obliterans, or Buerger disease, is a debilitating vascular disease with a well-known pronounced link to cigarette smoking and, more specifically, to the nicotine component of tobacco inhalation. Buerger disease is an inflammatory occlusive disorder that primarily affects the medium and small vessels of the extremities. In the present case report, a 46-year-old man, nonforthcoming smoker, presented to the authors' clinic with a deep ulcer at the head of the second metatarsal. Evidently, although the patient continued to smoke, the ulcer responded to therapy but regressed. Once the history was elaborated, the patient stopped smoking, and the ulcer healed completely within 2 months. Follow-up appointments proved to be unremarkable and to the authors' knowledge, there has not been a reoccurrence, and the patient remains tobacco-free.