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, July 21, 2013

Two-stage unilateral versus one-stage bilateral single-port sympathectomy for palmar and axillary hyperhidrosis

Compensatory sweating occurred in 25 (19%) patients of the one-stage group and in 6 (4%) of the two-stage group (P = 0.0001). No patients developed Horner’s syndrome.
CONCLUSIONS: Both two-stage unilateral and one-stage bilateral single-port video-assisted thoracoscopic sympathectomies are effective, safe and minimally invasive procedures. Two-stage unilateral sympathectomy can be performed with a lower occurrence of compensatory sweating, improving permanently the quality of life in patients with palmar and axillary hyperhidrosis. 
http://icvts.oxfordjournals.org/content/16/6/834.full.pdf+html