J Korean Pain Soc.  1996 Jun;9(1):114-119.

Treatment of 43 Patients with Buerger's Disease

• Cheun JK
• Jang YH
• Chung JK

Abstract

Buergers disease is a nonatherosclerotic occlusive inflammatory disease of medium and small arteries, and veins, of unknown cause. It occurs predominantly in young males who are habitual tabacco users. These patients often complain of painful ulcerations of their digits. The care of this disease is very difficult when the treatment is delayed. Consequently, early treatments are most important to patients with Buerger's disease. This disease can be treated with sympathetic block such as stellate ganglion block for upper extremities and lumbar epidural block, and lumbar sympathetic block for lower extremities. Intravascular regional sympathetic block can be another method of treatment. However, discontinuation of smoking is the most basic and essential treatment for Buerger's disease. We treated 43 Buerger's disease patients with stellate ganglion block and laser therapy. The treatment was not effective for three patients who definitely required amputation.

Keyword

Analgesia: Pain; Anesthetic techniques: epidural; sympathetic block: stellate ganglion

MeSH Terms

Amputation
Arteries
Humans
Laser Therapy
Lower Extremity
Male
Smoke
Smoking
Stellate Ganglion
Thromboangiitis Obliterans*
Ulcer
Upper Extremity
Veins
Smoke