"Sympathectomy is a technique about which we have limited knowledge, applied to disorders about which we have little understanding." Associate Professor Robert Boas, Faculty of Pain Medicine of the Australasian College of Anaesthetists and the Royal College of Anaesthetists, The Journal of Pain, Vol 1, No 4 (Winter), 2000: pp 258-260
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
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Behavioral changes after sympathectomy
J Comp Physiol Psychol 1976; 90:303-16.
Glycogen accumulation in Reissner's membrane following chemical sympathectomy
PMID: 213930 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Role of the ANS in cerebral circulation
Blood Vessels 1974;11:2-31
Sympathectomy alters cranial nerves and cerebral blood flow
Moya-Moya Syndrome
Moya Moya syndrome is a vasculopathy of the cranial arteries, usually the carotids, leading to progressive intracranial occlusion with distal collateral vessels. This is a very frequent cause of pediatric stroke in India(10,11). Children usually present with an acute focal deficit such as hemiplegia, whereas in later years sub-arachnoid hemorrhage is a common presenta-tion. Due to bilateral carotid involvement sometimes alternating hemiplegia is seen. The outcome varies widely without treatment. Moya Moya disease is usually idiopathic, although same radiographic pattern is seen in some patients with sickle cell disease, neuro-fibromatosis, postcranial irradiation and in various other conditions(15). There is no proven treatment of Moya Moya disease. Medical management involves use of aspirin but needs further testing. Surgical treatment involves cervical sympathectomy, intracranial graft of omentum or temporalis muscle and bypass of superficial temporal artery to the middle cerebral artery(34).
http://indianpediatrics.net/feb2000/personal.htm
sympathectomy greatly reduces ventilation
Eur Respir J 1998; 12: 177–184
reduces the amount of adrenaline
A form of surgery that is useful for some people with LQTS. It reduces the amount of adrenaline and its by-products produced and delivered to the heart by certain nerves (the left cervical ganglia). It involves operating on the left neck and removing or blocking these nerves
http://www.sads.org.uk/technical_terms.htm
sympathectomy totally ablates regional spinal cord blood flow
http://ajpheart.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/260/3/H827
Transverse myelitis
Transverse myelitis is a neurological disorder caused by an inflammatory process of the grey and white matter of the spinal cord, and can cause axonal demyelination.In some cases, the disease is presumed to be caused by viral infections or vaccinations and has also been associated with spinal cord injuries, immune reactions, schistosomiasis and insufficient blood flow through spinal cord vessels. Acute myelitis accounts for 4 to 5 percent of all cases of neuroborreliosis.[1] Symptoms include weakness and numbness of the limbs as well as motor, sensory, and sphincter deficits. Severe backpain may occur in some patients at the onset of the disease.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transverse_myelitis