Lancet. 1985 Nov 23;2(8465):1158-60.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2414615
"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
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Postsympathectomy syndrome
Postsympathectomy limb pain, postsympathectomy parotid pain, and Raeder's paratrigeminal syndrome are pain states associated with the loss of sympathetic fibres and in particular with postganglionic sympathetic lesions. There is a characteristic interval of about 10 days between surgical sympathectomy and onset of pain. It is proposed that this pain in man is correlated with the delayed rise in sensory neuropeptides seen in rodents after sympathectomy. These chemical changes probably reflect the sprouting of sensory fibres and may result from the greater availability of nerve growth factor after sympathectomy. The balance between the sensory and sympathetic innervations of a peripheral organ may be determined by competition for a limited supply of nerve growth factor.
bilateral ETS causes the suppression of cardiovascular response to exercise
HR and BP at rest and cardiovascular response to exercise were similar in patients with palmar hyperhidrosis before ETS and in the normal control population. Therefore, we consider that patients with palmar hyperhidrosis have no overactivity of the sympathetic nerve. However, because bilateral ETS causes the suppression of cardiovascular response to exercise, patients that has been treated with ETS need to be observed during high-level exercise.
http://iars.org/abstracts/browsefile/browse.asp?command=N&absnum=45&dir=S190
Chest wall paresthesia affects a significant but previously overlooked proportion of patients
The rates and characteristics of the paresthesia following needlescopic VATS are similar to those observed after conventional VATS. CONCLUSIONS: Chest wall paresthesia affects a significant but previously overlooked proportion of patients following needlescopic VATS, but has minimal impact on post-operative satisfaction. Needlescopic VATS offers no apparent advantage over conventional VATS with regard to paresthesia.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15691688?dopt=Abstract
supersensitivity to sympathomimetic amines in the chronically denervated heart
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2988820?dopt=Abstract