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

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

perioperative alterations in hemodynamic changes

Our purpose was to examine perioperative alterations in hemodynamic changes with head-up tilt (HUT) in patients undergoing endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy (ETS).
Methods. The subjects were 11 patients with essential hyperhidrosis scheduled to undergo ETS (ETS group) and 9 age-matched volunteers undergoing minor surgery (control group). HUT was performed (40°; 5 min) before and after the surgery, under nitrous oxide anesthesia. Orthostatic hypertension and hypotension in response to HUT were defined as changes of 10% or greater in systolic blood pressure.
Results. The increase in heart rate in response to HUT was significantly reduced after surgery in the ETS group (from 34 ± 18 to 14 ± 11 beats·min−1; P < 0.001), but not in the control group (from 23 ± 18 to 22 ± 12 beats·min−1; P = 0.911). Orthostatic hypertension disappeared completely after ETS (from 5 of 11 to none of 11 patients; P = 0.035), whereas the prevalence of orthostatic hypotension increased significantly after ETS (from 3 of 11 to 9 of 11 patients; P = 0.030). In the control group, the prevalence of neither orthostatic hypertension nor orthostatic hypotension changed after surgery.

Journal of Anesthesia


ISSN0913-8668 (Print) 1438-8359 (Online)
IssueVolume 16, Number 1 / February, 2002