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, January 11, 2011

Sympathectomy limits blood flow to a vital organ like the brain

However, sympathetic blockade at the level of the neck eliminated the beta-1 blockade induced attenuation in delta MCA V(mean) (10.2 2.5 cm s(-1)). These results indicate that a reduced ability to increase CO during exercise limits blood flow to a vital organ like the brain and that this flow limitation is likely to be by way of the sympathetic nervous system.

PMID: 10971220 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
1. Acta Physiol Scand. 2000 Sep;170(1):33-8.