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 20, 2011

Progressive facial hemiatrophy following cervical sympathectomy

Unilateral cervical sympathectomy of the month-old rat produced a condition simulating progressive facial hemiatrophy during a postoperative period of 2–4 months. While the gross extent of the lesion produced varied, the histological appearance was uniform; adipose tissue alone was diminished. Osseous, muscular and vascular structures of the facial skull appeared unaltered under these experimental conditions. No evidence of a neurotrophic influence on either the growth or maintenance of bone form was found. The mechanism of production of the adipose atrophy remains unknown.
Archives of Oral Biology
Volume 1, Issue 3, January 1960, Pages 254-258, IN11-IN14