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, 30 June 2013

Several reports have dealt with the alteration of antibody responses of spleen and lymph nodes following sympathectomy

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8528891

Vascular responses altered substantially after sympathectomy

Vascular responses to warming were studied in hemiplegic patients and after sympathectomy, using venous occlusion plethysmography of foot and leg. Comparisons were made with corresponding age groups. The pattern of response was essentially unchanged in hemiplegic patients, but was altered substantially where sympathetic pathways had been interrupted.

Vasomotor Responses in the Extremities of Subjects with Various Neurologic Lesions

I. Reflex Responses to Warming

http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/15/4/518.abstract

Satisfaction rates of patients following sympathectomy significantly decreased in the long term

Studies by ETS surgeons have claimed an initial satisfaction rate around 85-95% with at least 2%-19% regretting the surgery and up to 51% of the patients complaining about decreased quality of life.192021One study shows a satisfaction rate as low as 28.6. Most patients report various adverse reactions as a result of the surgery. However, ETS surgeon Samuel S. Ahn of UCLA claims "100% success with no negative side effects".22

A large study of psychiatric patients treated with this surgery showed significant reductions in fear, alertness and arousal. (Teleranta, Pohjavaara, et al. 2003, 2004). Arousal is essential to consciousness, in regulating attention and information processing, memory and emotion.23 This study also proves what many patients have claimed, that the surgery caused psychological changes.

https://www.meducation.net/community_notes/7283-Endoscopic-thoracic-sympathectomy

Medical Education Network on Sympathectomy

ETS is most commonly used to treat severe hyperhidrosis of the upper body, Raynaud's phenomenon, and facial blushing.

There are reports of ETS being used to achieve cerebral revascularization for patients with moyamoya disease,1 and to treat headaches, hyperactive bronchial tubes,2long QT syndrome345 and other conditions.

Thoracic sympathectomy can alter many bodily functions, including sweating,6 vascular responses,7heart rate,89 heart stroke volume,1011thyroid, baroreflex,lung volume,12 pupil dilation, skin temperature, goose bumps and other aspects of the autonomic nervous system, like the fight-or-flight response. It may diminish the body's physical reaction to exercise.131415

Sympathectomy involves division of adrenergic, cholinergic and sensory fibers which elaborate adrenergic substances during the process of regulating visceral function.16 It involves dissection of the main Sympathetic trunk in the upper thoracic region of the sympathetic nervous system, thus interrupting neural messages that ordinarily would travel to many different organs, glands and muscles. It is via these nerves of the autonomic nervous system that the brain is able to make adjustments in the body in response to changing conditions in the environment, changing emotional states, level of exercise, and other factors to maintain the body's homeostasis.

https://www.meducation.net/community_notes/7283-Endoscopic-thoracic-sympathectomy

Sympathectomy involves division of adrenergic, cholinergic and sensory fibers which elaborate adrenergic substances during the process of regulating visceral function

G. SURGICAL SYMPATHECTOMY AND ADRENERGIC FUNCTIONPharmacol Rev March 1966 18:611-618;

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we conclude that the sympathetic nervous system influences the metabolic activity of the aorta

The effect of chemical sympathectomy with 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OH-DA) on collagen formation in the aortic wall was investigated in rabbits and rats. Eight weeks after 6-OH-DA treatment of rabbits, there was a significant increase an collagen content in aortas and histologic changes in the elastic elements within the media. The possibility of a direct effect of 6-OH-DA on connective tissue formation was investigated in a subsequent experiment in rats. The rates of collagen synthesis and prolyl hydroxylase activity (PHA) were determined in aortas and in the fibrotic granuloma around subcutaneously implanted polyvinylalcohol sponges. Rates of collagen synthesis and PHA were significantly increased in the aortas of 6-OH-DA treated rats, but not in fibrotic granuloma, confirming the changes seen in the aorta of rabbits and suggesting that 6-OH-DA does not directly affect collagen synthesis. We conclude that the sympathetic nervous system influences the metabolic activity of the aorta. Our data indicate that when the aortic wall is deprived of adrenergic nervous stimulation, changes occur which resemble those seen in natural aging of the aorta. It is plausible to assume that such a metabolic derangement in the vessel wall will make these vessels more vulnerable to additional stresses.

Experimental and Molecular Pathology
Volume 28, Issue 3, June 1978, Pages 279-289

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.

sympathectomy interrupts neural messages to many different organs, glands and muscles

Surgical and chemical sympathectomy can alter cellular proliferation

Surgical denervation and chemical sympathectomy can alter cellular proliferation, B- and T-cell responsiveness and lymphocyte migration in lymphoid organs [17].

In vitro studies have shown that neuropeptides can have numerous effects, either inhibiting or stimulating the proliferation, differentiation and functions of immune cells [19]* Development of systemic lupus erythematosus in mice is associated with alteration of neuropeptide concentrations in inﬂamed kidneys and immunoregulatory organs

Neuroscience Letters 248 (1998) 97– 100

decreased conditioning-related activity in insula and amygdala after autonomic denervation

The degree to which perceptual awareness of threat stimuli and bodily states of arousal modulates neural activity associated with fear conditioning is unknown. We used functional magnetic neuroimaging (fMRI) to study healthy subjects and patients with peripheral autonomic denervation to examine how the expression of conditioning-related activity is modulated by stimulus awareness and autonomic arousal. In controls, enhanced amygdala activity was evident during conditioning to both "seen" (unmasked) and "unseen" (backward masked) stimuli, whereas insula activity was modulated by perceptual awareness of a threat stimulus. Absent peripheral autonomic arousal, in patients with autonomic denervation, was associated with decreased conditioning-related activity in insula and amygdala. The findings indicate that the expression of conditioning-related neural activity is modulated by both awareness and representations of bodily states of autonomic arousal.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11856537

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

anatomic variations of the T2 nerve root

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. Journal of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery Y. 2002, vol. 123, No. 3, pages 498-501 [bibl. : 14 ref. http://www.refdoc.fr/Detailnotice?idarticle=9466218