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, June 11, 2009

disturbances in the sympathetic regulation of the peripheral blood flow

Finger skin blood flow was measured in 80 healthy subjects, using laser Doppler imaging during basal vasodilatation at a local temperature of 40°C. The response to cooling of the contralateral hand at 15°C was studied. A vasoconstriction index was calculated in all subjects and a nomogram was constructed, taking age into consideration. Compared with these normal subjects, four patients operated on with transthoracic endoscopic sympathectomy due to hand hyperhidrosis showed clearly attenuated responses. The results indicate that the test can be used to assess disturbances in the sympathetic regulation of the peripheral blood flow.
Clinical Physiology; Mar1998, Vol. 18 Issue 2, p103-107, 5p