significant fall in left circumflex coronary flow was proportional to the decline in external heart work due to sympathectomy

http://www.springerlink.com/content/k2n6j4555g16x773/

sympathectomy affects the heart, sweating, and circulation

heart rate was significantly reduced at rest (14%), at sub-maximal exercise (12.3%), and at peak exercise (5.7%), together with a significant increase in oxygen pulse (11.8, 12.7, and 7.8%, respectively). The rate pressure product (RPP) was also significantly reduced following the surgical procedure at all three study stages, while all other physiological variables measured remained unchanged. It is suggested that thoracic-sympathetic denervation affects the heart, sweating, and circulation of the respective denervated region

Eur J Appl Physiol. 2008 Sep;104(1):79-86. Epub 2008 Jun 10.

Post-sympathectomy neuralgia is a severe complication since pain can be permanent, severe, and incapacitating

http://www.springerlink.com/content/q04711t06j164206/

Possible surgical complications of sympathectomy may include

• Horner's syndrome
• Infection
• Hematoma
• Bleeding
• Postsympathectomy neuralgia
• Pleurotomy
• Pleural effusion
• Phrenic nerve injury
• Subclavian artery injury
• Adverse reaction to anesthesia
• Collapsed lung 

http://www.malonie.com/surgeries/upper-extremity-sympathectomy.htm

"ETS has proved moderately successful in treating hyperhidrosis, although the operation does carry a high risk of complications. "

Other complications of ETS include:

• sweating on the face and neck after eating food (gustatory sweating),
• inflammation of the nose (rhinitis), and
• air becoming trapped between the layers of the lung (pneumothorax) which can cause chest pain and breathing difficulties (although this usually resolves itself without the need for treatment).

Rarer complications of ETS include:

• Horner's syndrome, a condition that causes drooping of the eyelids, and
• damage to the phrenic nerve (a nerve that is used to help in breathing).

Phrenic nerve damage can lead to shortness of breath, though it may be possible to repair the nerve during surgery.

http://www.knowsley.nhs.uk/health-a-to-z/h/hyperhidrosis-excessive-sweating/

75% pneumothorax expected after sympathectomy

A small insignificant pneumothorax can be expected after ETS in about 75% of cases [15], which gets spontaneously absorbed, usually within 24 h.

Comparing T2 and T2–T3 ablation in thoracoscopic sympathectomy for palmar hyperhidrosis: a randomized control trial
A. N. Katara, J. P. Domino, W.-K. Cheah, J. B. So, C. Ning, D. Lomanto
Received: 13 October 2006/Accepted: 2 November 2006
Surg Endosc (2007) DOI: 10.1007/s00464-007-9241-9


[15] Ojimba TA, Cameron AEP (2004) Drawbacks of endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy. Br J Surg 91: 264–269



Permanent side effects included compensatory sweating in 67.4%, gustatory sweating in 50.7% and Horner's trias in 2.5%. However, patient satisfaction declined over time, although only 1.5% recurred. This left only 66.7% satisfied, and a 26.7% partially satisfied. Compensatory and gustatory sweating were the most frequently stated reasons for dissatisfaction. Individuals operated for axillary hyperhidrosis without palmar involvement were significantly less satisfied (33.3% and 46.2%, respectively).
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1234291/

sympathectomy improves skin blood flow at the thermoregulatory but not the nutritive level of skin microcirculation

sympathectomy improves skin blood flow at the thermoregulatory but not the nutritive level of skin microcirculation. This may be related to the fact that the thermoregulatory vessels are mainly sympathetically controlled, whereas the nutritive capillaries are mainly controlled by local (nonneural) factors.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/ukwtrn2y72age93t/

Drug warning - Karvezide, AVAPRO HCT - 'you must tell your doctor if you have had sympathectomy'

Tell your doctor if:

* you have had a sympathectomy

* you have been taking diuretics

*you have a history of allergy or asthma


www.racgp.org.au/cmi/swckarvz.pdf

2. Before you start to take AVAPRO HCT

Tell your doctor if:

• you suffer from any medical conditions especially-
  - kidney problems, or have had a kidney transplant or dialysis
  - heart problems
  - liver problems, or have had liver problems in the past
  - diabetes
  - gout or have had gout in the past
  - lupus erythematosus
  - high or low levels of potassium or sodium or other electrolytes in your blood
  - primary aldosteronism
• you are strictly restricting your salt intake
• you are lactose intolerant or have had any allergies to any other medicine or any other substances, such as foods, preservatives or dyes.
• have had a sympathectomy
• you have been taking diuretics
• you have a history of allergy or asthma

http://www.mydr.com.au/medicines/cmis/avapro-hct-300-25-tablets

Published by MIMS/myDr March 2011

UBM Medica Australia uses its best endeavours to ensure that at the time of publishing, as indicated on the publishing date for each resource (e.g. Published by MIMS/myDr January 2007), the CMI provided was complete to the best of UBM Medica Australia's knowledge.  

Use of stellate ganglion block for the treatment of psychiatric and behavioral disorders

The present invention is directed to a method for the treatment of a patient suffering from psychiatric and behavioral disorders, including post partum depression, post traumatic stress disorder, compulsive smoking, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, gambling addiction, comprising the step of administering a stellate ganglion block to the patient to alleviate the symptoms. The stellate ganglion block may be followed by a sympathectomy to provide permanent relief.

United States Patent 20070135871

Kind Code: A1

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/y2007/0135871.html

Number of sympathectomies is on the increase in Australia - the power of medical advertising

years 2000 - 2001:
Total: 1034

years 2001-2002:
Total: 1575

years 2002 - 2003
Total: 1228

years 2003 - 2004
Total: 1193

years 2004 - 2005
Total: 1483

years 2005 - 2006
Total:1358

years 2006 - 2007
Total: 972

years  2007 - 2008
Total: 850

years 2008 - 2009
Total: 891

years  2009 - 2010
Total: 1083

source: aihw.gov.au

Iatrogenic harlequin syndrome resulting from sympathectomy

Postgrad Med J 2003;79:278 doi:10.1136/pmj.79.931.278

A 29 year old man with severe facial hyperhidrosis underwent an uncomplicated right thoracoscopic sympathectomy. Before operating on his left side, a starch-iodine preparation was applied to his face in order to demarcate residual sudomotor function. The preparation becomes blue on exposure to moisture, thereby representing residual sweat gland activity.

Figure 1 demonstrates that sympathetic innervation to the face is strictly unilateral, and nerve fibres do not appear to cross the midline. This is essentially an iatrogenic variation of the harlequin syndrome,² which usually results from interruption of post-ganglionic sympathetic fibres secondary to malignant invasion.

His facial hyperhidrosis was completely treated once the contralateral sympathectomy was performed.

T3 sympathectomy leads to subclinical pupillary dysfunction with a tendency for miosis

We found statistically significant differences (P < 0.001) between the preoperative P/I ratio [0.40 mm (standard deviation, SD 0.07 mm)] and the postoperative basal ratio [0.33 (SD 0.05)] at 24 h. The P/I ratio at 24 h increased from 0.33 to 0.36 (SD 0.09), a nonsignificant increase (P = 0.45), after instillation of medicated eye drops. No differences were observed between the preoperative [0.40 (SD 0.07)] and 1-month basal values [0.38 (SD 0.07)], and instillation of apraclonidine no longer induced a hypersensitivity response.

CONCLUSIONS:

T3 sympathectomy leads to subclinical pupillary dysfunction with a tendency for miosis, even though this impairment is not generally evident on standard physical examination or reported by patients. This subclinical dysfunction may be caused by injury to an undefined group of presympathetic nerve cell axons in caudocranial direction that communicate with the cervical sympathetic ganglia and whose function is mydriatic pupillary innervation.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22044979

medical students need to realise how vulnerable they are to being seduced by the special privileges of their profession

More than 7% of all German physicians became members of the Nazi SS during World War II, compared with less than 1% of the general population. In so doing, these doctors willingly participated in genocide, something that should have been antithetical to the values of their chosen profession. The participation of physicians in torture and murder both before and after World War II is a disturbing legacy seldom discussed in medical school, and underrecognised in contemporary medicine. Is there something inherent in being a physician that promotes a transition from healer to murderer? With this historical background in mind, the author, a medical student, defines and reflects upon moral vulnerabilities still endemic to contemporary medical culture.
http://jme.bmj.com/content/early/2012/05/02/medethics-2011-100372.abstract

Alessandra Colaianni, of Johns Hopkins Medical School, asks the unsettling question: "Is there something inherent in being a physician that promotes a transition from healer to murderer?" Some recent situations in the United States suggest that this is possible: allegations of euthanasia in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, torture of Guantanamo detainees, and the participation of doctors in capital punishment. Colaianni suggests that there are illuminating parallels between medical training and the work of doctors in Auschwitz.
Socialisation and hierarchy: doctors are pressured to conform to group norms, often with techniques like "Sleep deprivation, heightened stress levels and fear of failure". Ambition: just as Nazi doctors participated in the T4 euthanasia program to advance their careers, today's doctors are pressured to succeed even at the risk of losing their integrity. Doctors have a "licence to sin" which can easily be perverted: some "actions are allowed when they are performed by physicians, but are the stuff of horror films and criminal cases when non-licensed personnel attempt them."
Detachment was also a characteristic of Nazi doctors. They could select prisoners by day and dine with their colleagues by night: "the medical profession requires unflappability in the face of things that others would consider disgusting, horrific, or otherwise overwhelming".
Colaianni concludes that medical students need to realise how vulnerable they are to being seduced by the special privileges of their profession. "It is for this reason that a solid grounding in principles of ethics, individualism and human rights is so crucial for physicians and others in positions of power or trust."
http://www.bioedge.org/index.php/bioethics/bioethics_article/10042

nerves that sent blood-pressure-raising flight-or-fight signals to the brain were cut

page 187:
It was a grueling operation called sympathectomy, in which the nerves that sent blood-pressure-raising flight-or-fight signals to the brain were cut...The nerve cutting scrambled signals to her circulatory system. She was cold on one side of her body and warm on the other.

The Happy Bottom Riding Club: The Life and Times of Pancho Barnes (Paperback)

by Lauren Kessler (Author)

The second thoracic sympathetic ganglion was most commonly located (50%) in the second intercostal space

Presence of the stellate ganglion was noted in 56 (84.8%) sides, and 6 (9.1%) sides showed a single large ganglion formed by the stellate and the second thoracic sympathetic ganglia. The second thoracic sympathetic ganglion was most commonly located (50%) in the second intercostal space. CONCLUSION: The anatomic variations of the intrathoracic nerve of Kuntz and the second thoracic

sympathetic ganglion were characterized in human cadavers.

J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg  2002 Mar;123(3):498-501

Chung IH, Oh CS, Koh KS, Kim HJ, Paik HC, Lee DY.