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, November 27, 2009

produces the equivalent of a sympathectomy, preventing noradrenaline release

Bretylium
Class III
Mode of action
- increases action potential duration and refractory period of cardiac cells
- antifibrillatory effect on ventricular muscle - may be more important than class III effects in emergency treatment of malignant ventricular arrhythmias
- initially causes noradrenaline release and then produces the equivalent of a
sympathectomy, preventing noradrenaline release (class II effect)
Clinical use
- useful adjunct to DC shock in managing life-threatening ventricular
arrhythmias, especially refractory VF
- theoretical advantages of lignocaine but no advantage has been demonstrated clinically