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

Thursday, March 13, 2008

The mechanism of sympathectomy - unknown

Results. Sympathetic blocks and sympathectomies may provide
significant relief in 60% of patients who undergo them (19-23). The
mechanism on which this relief is based is open to question. There may
be a significant placebo effect influencing the response to sympathetic
blocks (18, 19). Mean time to pain recurrence following
sympathectomy is six months (23).
http://www.hiesiger.com/physicians/physicianrfl.html