Palmar
Hyperhidrosis... cont'd
The
operation involves a general anaesthetic.
We use a particularly elegant technique where a single small puncture is
made on each side of the chest and the telescope passed through to allow the
necessary surgery.
The commonest way to destroy the ganglion is to use cautery.
An alternative is to interrupt the sympathetic chain by clamping.
However, this is a more complicated procedure requiring two incisions on
each side of the chest and so far is not
proven to give better results.
The
patient is in hospital for a day or two and back to work very quickly.
As
with all operations, however, there are risks and side-effects.
There is a slight risk with all telescopic operations that some structure
may be damaged but this is very rare.
Long-term side-effects include the possibility that the hands may become
so dry that moisturising cream is necessary; there is always a little extra
sweating on the trunk (compensatory hyperhidrosis) which can be severe in 1% of
cases. There is a slight
possibility of a condition called Horner’s syndrome; this is drooping of the eyelid on one or both sides.
If this does occur it is usually temporary but occasionally it can
persist.
Other side-effects are unusual but the surgeon should discuss them before the
patient agrees to surgery (more details are on our fact sheet).
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