Buerger's disease or thromboangiitis obliterans revealed by an enteric ischemia. Case report and literature review

Thromboangiitis obliterans or Buerger's disease is a rare arteritis affecting mainly young male smokers. Distal limb symptoms are well-known. Digestive manifestations, especially when inaugural, are less known and sometimes misdiagnosed. We report the case of a 37-year-old man who developed a large mesenteric infarct with diffuse ischemic colitis; and ischemia in the hepatic artery field. Histopathological findings were consistent with thromboangiitis obliterans. Unexplained abdominal pain, even if inaugural, in young male smokers, should evoke the possibility of Buerger's disease.