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

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Sympathectomy Causes Aggravated Lesions and Dedifferentiation

Previously [Histochem J 1997;29:279-286], we found that sympathectomy induced neointima formation in ear but not cerebral arteries of genetically hyperlipidemic rabbits.
Sympathectomy Causes Aggravated Lesions and Dedifferentiation in Large Rabbit Atherosclerotic Arteries without Involving Nitric Oxide

J Vasc Res 2006;43:289-305 (DOI: 10.1159/000093010)