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

Friday, October 3, 2008

Functional and morphological alterations have been reported in cerebral arteries after cervical sympathectomy

Innervation of the human carotid vessels is supplied by the sympathetic system, originating mainly from the superior cervical ganglion, but also from the inferior. Different methods have demonstrated profuse adrenergic innervation of the cerebral blood vessels and regulation of blood flow by the sympathetic system. Functional and morphological alterations have been reported in cerebral arteries after cervical sympathectomy, but vasospasm pathogenesis after subarachnoid haemorrhage remain controversial.

RESULTS

Histological examinations of surgical specimens confirmed ganglion tissues in all cases.

Table 1 shows mean basilar artery diameters for all groups. There were significant statistical differences between groups.

Effects of cervical sympathectomy on vasospasm induced by meningeal haemorrhage in rabbits

Antônio Tadeu de Souza FaleirosI; Francisco Humberto de Abreu MaffeiII; Luiz Antonio de Lima ResendeIII