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

Monday, December 7, 2009

increased blood flow after sympathectomy is due to increased nonnutritive AVA flow

In the acute canine model, increased blood flow after sympathectomy is due to increased nonnutritive arteriovenous anastomoses (AVA) flow, with no change in total hindlimb capillary flow, both at rest and during reactive hyperemia.

Surgery. 1977 Jul;82(1):82-9.


sympathectomy on cerebral blood flow

CBF increased significantly after the elevation of systemic blood pressure compared with that in the control group, and cerebral autoregulation was impaired. After a 1-hour study, the specific gravity of the cerebral tissue in the treated group significantly decreased; electron microscopic studies at that time revealed brain edema. It is suggested that depletion of brain noradrenaline levels causes a disturbance in cerebral microvascular tone and renders the cerebral blood vessels more vulnerable to hypertension.
J Neurosurg. 1991 Dec;75(6):906-10.

sympathectomy leading to an extracranial steal phenomenon.

The incidence and extension of brain infarcts was increased in animals with additional ipsilateral cervical preganglionic sympathectomy. Sympathectomy did not affect markedly the respiration and systemic circulation. The effect of sympathectomy was attributed to a cutaneous vasodilation, leading to an extracranial steal phenomenon.
J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1983 August; 46(8): 768–773.

ventilation technique may prevent hypoxemia during endoscopic sympathectomy

The near-sitting position, a single-lumen tube, and a continuous two-lung ventilation technique is simple and may prevent hypoxemia during endoscopic transthoracic sympathectomy.
Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia
Volume 10, Issue 2, February 1996, Pages 210-212

chronic sympathectomy on muscle fibre composition

It is concluded that sympathectomy induces several biochemical changes in skeletal muscle which constitute a change and increase in fast myosin light chain synthesis and a corresponding fibre type transformation.
Received 24 August 1987; accepted 26 October 1987

Clinical Physiology and Functional Imaging


"We have previously reported functional and histological studies in five beagle dogs with unilateral lumbar sympathectomy. Three months later, fatiguability in the gracilis muscles was increased on the denervated sides, and this was associated with an increase in the relative distribution of FT fibres. Biochemical studies now show that these changes were associated with an increase in cytosolic protein without change in DNA content; this is consistent with an increase in cell size. There was a reduction in the proportion of slow myosin light chain isoforms from 50 +/- 7 to 34 +/- 6%. Noradrenaline levels were increased on the denervated sides but this may reflect greater vascularity. Calcium content did not correlate with fibre type but there was a positive relation with both noradrenaline content (r = 0.73; P less than 0.05) and DNA content (r = 0.84; P less than 0.05). It is concluded that sympathectomy induces several biochemical changes in skeletal muscle which constitute a change and increase in fast myosin light chain synthesis and a corresponding fibre type transformation."

Journal: Clinical physiology (Oxford, England) (Clin Physiol), published in ENGLAND.

Reference: 1988-Apr; vol 8 (issue 2) : pp 181-91

Dates: Created 1988/06/08; Completed 1988/06/08; Revised 2004/11/17;

PMID: 3359751, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )


Sympathectomy--how much side-effects are acceptable?

Lakartidningen 2001 Oct 10;98(41):4494-5

[Article in Swedish]

Berglund F, Berglund E.

Publication Types:

Letter

PMID: 11699265 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]