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, October 11, 2008

Sympathectomy causes changes in the wool growth of sheep

The left superior cervical ganglion was removed from 18 sheep. The animals were exposed to a cold environment and ear temperature was monitored to indicate the likely release of noradrenaline in the skin of the cheeks or adrenaline from the adrenals. With respect to the sympathectomized side, a reduction in ear temperature on the unoperated side was associated with lowered mitotic rate at the unoperated cheek site (P < 0.026). However, when the temperature of the unoperated side was not lowered, mitotic rate was not consistently lower on one side with respect to the other. Physiological levels of noradrenaline therefore mimicked the effects observed during the pharmacological studies, and the catecholamines may therefore play an important role in the regulation of wool growth.
DR Scobie, PI Hynd and BP Setchell
Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 45(6) 1159 - 1169

Full text doi:10.1071/AR9941159

© CSIRO 1994