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, October 14, 2009

Chemical thoracic sympathectomy (CTS) resulted in profound bradycardia

In the CTS group, however, the SDRR:SD∂RR ratio decreased significantly from 1.72 ± 0.20 to 1.23 ± 0.11 just after CTS. The previous patient, who had a high SDRR:SD∂RR ratio of 3.45 before CTS, exhibited severe bradycardia (22 beats/min).
The decrease in the SDRR:SD∂RR ratio indicates a reduction of cardiac sympathetic activity. However, CTS in patients having high SDRR:SD∂RR ratios can result in profound bradycardia.

Anesthesiology ISSN 0003-3022

1998, vol. 89, no3, pp. 666-670 (12 ref.)