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, May 17, 2008

Changes of Catecholamines

1. The contents of norepinephrine, epinephrine, dopamine, and dopa of the heart were determined fluorimetrically in 24 dogs from 1 to 50 days following bilateral cervical sympathectomy. The results were compared with those obtained from intact dogs in the previous studies. 2. After bilateral cervical sympathectomy, the norepinephrine content show a rapid decrease from 4 days to 7 days and a slow decrease within the following 14 days. No tendency of recovery was apparent in the heart for 50 days following the operation, the norepinephrine content remaining almost at an equal level. The same operative procedure, however, had no significant effect on the concentrations of dopamine and dopa 3. It was postulated that norepinephrine could not be synthesized and/or accumulated in the heart following bilateral cervical sympathectomy, but that cardiac muscle might synthesize dopamine for itself.
Japanese circulation journal
Vol.29, No.1(19650120) pp. 11-15
KIMATA SHIN-ICHI 1
1The Third Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo