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, November 13, 2009

collateral effects of thoracic sympathectomy not disclosed to patients

Several reports also demonstrate significantly lower heart rate increases during exercise in subjects who have undergone bilateral ISS [9–12] compared to pre-surgical levels. In spite of this high occurrence, recent reviews on the usual collateral effects of thoracic sympathectomy still do not include these possible cardiac consequences [6].
Eur J Cardiothorac Surg 2001;20:1095-1100