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, January 30, 2015

Thoracic sympathectomy for peripheral vascular disease can lead to severe bronchospasm and excessive bronchial secretions

 2015 Jan-Feb;32(1):73-5. doi: 10.4103/0970-2113.148458.

Thoracic sympathectomy for peripheral vascular disease can lead to severe bronchospasm and excessive bronchial secretions.

Goyal VD1, Gupta B2, Kumar S3, Pal S4.
A 57-year-old male patient suffering from Buerger's disease presented with pre-gangrenous changes in right foot and ischemic symptoms in right hand. Computed tomographic angiography revealed diffuse distal disease not suitable for vascular bypass and angioplasty. Right lumbar sympathectomy was done using a retroperitoneal approach followed 1 year later by right thoracic sympathectomy using a transaxillary approach. Postoperatively, the patient had severe bronchospasm and excessive secretions in the respiratory tract resistant to theophylline and sympathomimetic group of drugs and without any clinical, laboratory and radiological evidence of infection. The patient was started on anticholinergics in anticipation that sympathectomy might have lead to unopposed cholinergic activity and the symptoms improved rapidly. The patient recovered well and was discharged on 10(th) post-operative day.
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