What should be included in patient education about thromboangiitis obliterans (TAO) (Buerger disease)?
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What should be included in patient education about thromboangiitis obliterans (TAO) (Buerger disease)?
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@sarkarsatarupa Patients with TAO must be repeatedly advised to cease all use of or exposure to tobacco products (including chewing tobacco, nicotine patches and gums, and second-hand smoke) and reassured that if they are able to discontinue tobacco use, the disease will remit and amputation will be avoided.
Physicians should counsel patients that the level of tobacco avoidance required to achieve resolution of their disease often necessitates that they rigorously limit their exposure even to secondhand smoke. This can be extremely difficult for patients who live with another smoker, and it is therefore not unreasonable to consider referring such patients (and their loved ones) to multidisciplinary smoking cessation programs.