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

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

abolition of reflex secretion of adrenaline

Smithwick, R. H.: An Evaluation of the Surgical
Treatment of Hypertension. Bull. New York Acad. 1949.
The author discusses the effect upon hypertension of unilateral nephrectomy and removal of adrenal tumors but, principally, he considers his experience with operations on the sympathetic nervous system. The two principal known actions of sympathectomy are modification of blood pressure levels and modifications of the reflex regulation resulting from the inactivation of important components of the vasoconstrictor mechanism. Presumed effects of sympathectomy are abolition of reflex secretion of
adrenaline and stabilization of 1l)ood flow through the denervated vascular bed.