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, November 24, 2010

CNS activation following peripheral sympathectomy

Many studies have demonstrated that ablation of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) alters subsequent immune responses. Researchers have presumed that the altered immune responses are predominantly the result of the peripheral phenomenon of denervation. We, however, hypothesized that chemical sympathectomy will signal and activate the central nervous system (CNS).

Dual-antigen labeling demonstrates that

corticotrophin releasing factor (CRF)-containing neurons in the PVN are

activated by chemical sympathectomy; however, neurons containing

neurotransmitters which may modulate CRF neurons, such as vasopressin,

tyrosine hydroxylase, and adrenocorticotropin, do not coexpress Fos. Our

findings suggest an involvement of the CNS insympathectomy-induced

alterations of immunity.


Brain, Behavior, and Immunity

Volume 12, Issue 3, September 1998, Pages 230-241