The amount of compensatory sweating depends on the patient, the damage that the white rami communicans incurs, and the amount of cell body reorganization in the spinal cord after surgery.
Other potential complications include inadequate resection of the ganglia, gustatory sweating, pneumothorax, cardiac dysfunction, post-operative pain, and finally Horner’s syndrome secondary to resection of the stellate ganglion.
www.ubcmj.com/pdf/ubcmj_2_1_2010_24-29.pdf

After severing the cervical sympathetic trunk, the cells of the cervical sympathetic ganglion undergo transneuronic degeneration
After severing the sympathetic trunk, the cells of its origin undergo complete disintegration within a year.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1439-0442.1967.tb00255.x/abstract

Saturday, January 19, 2008

The FINOHTA REPORT

"Endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy is associated with significant immediate and long-term adverse effects. This is alarming especially since the operation is performed to alleviate a relatively harmless condition. Many patients also suffer from compensatory hyperhidrosis after ETS. Due to wide variation in the reporting of adverse effects, it is
probable that these have been underreported most of the time. "