Category: Sympathectomy

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Population-based analysis of the epidemiology of the surgical correction of hyperhidrosis in 1,216 patients over 11 years: a cross-sectional study

Sao Paulo Med J. 2022 Sep 12:S1516-31802022005023204. doi: 10.1590/1516-3180.2021.0773.R2.14022022. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy is the definitive surgical treatment for hyperhidrosis and a nationwide study has suggested that cultural and socioeconomic factors play a role in the numbers of operations performed. Thus, there is a need to evaluate local data in order to understand the local epidemiology and trends in hyperhidrosis treatment.

OBJECTIVE: To study the epidemiology of sympathectomy for treating hyperhidrosis in São Paulo, the largest city in Brazil.

DESIGN AND SETTING: Population-based retrospective cross-sectional study.

METHODS: Data on sympathectomies for treating hyperhidrosis between 2008 and 2018 were assessed from the database of the Municipal Health Department of São Paulo, Brazil.

RESULTS: 65.29% of the patients were female, 66.2% were aged between 20 and 39 years and 37.59% had registered with addresses outside São Paulo. 1,216 procedures were performed in the city of São Paulo from 2008 to 2018, and 78.45% of them were in only two public hospitals. The number of procedures significantly declined over the years (P = 0.001). 71.63% of the procedures were associated with 2-3 days of hospital stay, only 78 intensive care unit days were billed and we did not observe any intra-hospital death.

CONCLUSION: The profile of patients operated on in São Paulo (young women) is similar to that described in other populations. Sympathectomy is a very safe procedure, with no mortality in our series. There was a decreasing trend in the number of surgeries over the years.

PMID:36102451 | DOI:10.1590/1516-3180.2021.0773.R2.14022022

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Spontaneous ventilation anesthesia combined with uniportal and tubeless thoracoscopic sympathectomy in selected patients with primary palmar hyperhidrosis

J Cardiothorac Surg. 2022 Jul 15;17(1):177. doi: 10.1186/s13019-022-01917-4.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: To assess the feasibility and safety of tubeless video-assisted thoracoscopic sympathectomy (VATS) with a single 5 mm port under nonintubated, intravenous anesthesia with spontaneous ventilation in selected patients with primary palmar hyperhidrosis (PPH).

METHODS: Adults (aged between 18 and 60 years) with moderate or severe PPH symptoms were enrolled. Demographic information and clinical data were obtained from 172 consecutive patients undergoing thoracoscopic surgery for PPH from March 2014 to December 2020. The primary outcomes were the rate of complications, including death, and the intraoperative conversion rate to 3-port VATS. The secondary outcomes were the conversion rate to intubated anesthesia during the operation and the surgical duration and pain score of postoperative day 0.

RESULTS: In total, 172 patients were included with 88 males and 84 females. The median age was was 25 years (IQR:21-30 years). No mortalities or major morbidities occurred in any patient. The overall median surgical duration was 53 min (IQR:37-72 min). The median length of postoperative hospital stay was one day (IQR:one-one day). The median pain score of POD0 was 2 (IQR:2-2). Intraoperative conversion to 3-port VATS followed by drainage tube insertion occurred in one (0.6%) patient due to extensive pleural adhesions. No patients required conversion to intubated anesthesia during surgery. No postoperative mechanical ventilation was noted in any patient.

CONCLUSIONS: For selected patients with PPH, tubeless VATS with a single 5 mm port using spontaneous ventilation anesthesia can be considered a feasible and safe operation. The surgical wound is extremely small and the operation time is shorter than the conventional technique. Trial registration This study was in conformity with the Declaration of Helsinki, and was approved by the National Ethics Committee of the University of the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital (Approval number: [2020]70). We registered the study in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (Registration number: ChiCTR2100049063) in 2021.Informed consent was collected from all the participants of this study. URL for this clinical trial registration is: https://www.chictr.org.cn/index.aspx .

PMID:35840969 | DOI:10.1186/s13019-022-01917-4

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Evaluation of blood perfusion using laser doppler flowmetry during endoscopic lumbar sympathectomy in patients with plantar hyperhidrosis: a retrospective observational study

Sci Rep. 2022 Jul 6;12(1):11456. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-14778-7.

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether monitoring the changes of skin blood flow may be effective in assessing blood perfusion during endoscopic lumbar sympathectomy (ELS) in patients with plantar hyperhidrosis. In this study, a total of 30 patients who underwent surgical treatment for plantar hyperhidrosis at the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery in Yonsei University Gangnam Severance Hospital, Seoul, Korea, between July 2020 and December 2020, were retrospectively analyzed. Sympathetic denervation was performed on the third lumbar ganglion, and intraoperative laser doppler flowmetry (LDF) was used to detect the lumbar sympathetic chain accurately. We observed an abrupt increase of peripheral blood flow after sympathetic denervation, and the median percent changes of perfusion unit were 173.27 (inter-quartile range, IQR 195.48) and 392.98 (IQR 597.27) for the left and right sympathectomies, respectively. This study demonstrated the efficacy of monitoring skin blood flow via LDF during ELS. This result suggests that exact detection of blood flow using LDF is essential for improving the accuracy of ELS by checking the perfusion site on the sole in patients with plantar hyperhidrosis.

PMID:35794150 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-022-14778-7

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Efficacy of Percutaneous Radiofrequency Sympathectomy Versus Percutaneous Ethanol Sympatholysis in the Treatment of Primary Hyperhidrosis

Pain Physician. 2022 Jul;25(4):E689-E695.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: At present, there are many surgical treatments for primary hyperhidrosis (PH), but their medium- and long-term effects remain unclear.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate and compare the efficacy of radiofrequency sympathectomy (RFS) and percutaneous ethanol sympatholysis (PES) in the treatment of PH.

STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective study.

SETTING: This study was performed at the Affiliated Hospital of Jiaxing University, China.

METHODS: Patients who underwent RFS and PES at The First Affiliated Hospital of Jiaxing University for PH were retrospectively reviewed from January 2016 through December 2018 and were divided into an RFS group and a PES group. The Hyperhidrosis Disease Severity Scale was evaluated at the following time points: before the operation, immediately after the operation, 12 months and 24 months after the operation. The effective rate, patient satisfaction, and compensatory hyperhidrosis were also evaluated.

RESULTS: A total of 94 patients diagnosed with primary hyperhidrosis were included (RFS group, n = 45; PES group, n = 49). RFS yielded a postprocedure 24-month effective rate of 53.33% in treating hyperhidrosis compared to PES (24.49%, P < 0.05). There were no significant differences between the 2 groups regarding patient satisfaction (P = 0.927) and compensatory hyperhidrosis (P = 0.711).

LIMITATIONS: This was a single-center study.

CONCLUSION: This is the first clinical study to evaluate the efficacy of RFS and compare it with PES in treating primary hyperhidrosis. RFS significantly decreased hyperhidrosis and had a higher 2-year effective rate compared to PES.

PMID:35793193

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Cohort study on 20 years’ experience of bilateral video-assisted thoracic sympathectomy (VATS) for treatment of hyperhidrosis in 2431 patients

Sao Paulo Med J. 2022 Feb 21:S1516-31802022005004202. doi: 10.1590/1516-3180.2021.0078.R1.23072021. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Primary hyperhidrosis is a condition characterized by excessive sweating, inconsistent with the needs for thermoregulation.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness and the change in the quality of life of patients undergoing bilateral VATS (video-assisted thoracoscopic sympathectomy) for treatment of hyperhidrosis, in a large case series.

DESIGN AND SETTING: Cohort study conducted in a tertiary hospital specializing in hyperhidrosis located in São Paulo, Brazil.

METHODS: A total of 2,431 patients who underwent surgery consisting of bilateral video-assisted thoracoscopic sympathectomy between January 2000 and February 2017 were retrospectively assessed in an outpatient clinic specializing in hyperhidrosis. The patients underwent clinical and quality of life assessments on two occasions: firstly, prior to surgery, and subsequently, one month after the operation. The presence or absence of compensatory hyperhidrosis (CH) and general satisfaction after the first postoperative month were also evaluated.

RESULTS: All the patients operated had poor or very poor quality of life before surgery. In the postoperative period, an improvement in the quality of life was observed in more than 90% of the patients. Only 10.7% of the patients did not present CH, and severe CH occurred in 22.1% of the patients in this sample.

CONCLUSION: Bilateral VATS is a therapeutic method that decreases the degree of sweating more than 90% of patients with palmar and axillary hyperhidrosis. It improves the quality of life for more than 90% of the patients, at the expense of development of CH in approximately 90% of the patients, but not intensely.

PMID:35195234 | DOI:10.1590/1516-3180.2021.0078.R1.23072021

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Unexpected improvement of hyperhidrosis with cannabidiol

Einstein (Sao Paulo). 2022 Feb 14;20:eRC5795. doi: 10.31744/einstein_journal/2022RC5795. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

Hyperhidrosis is characterized by excessive sweating and it affects almost 5% of the population. The affected age group is wide, and it can affect from children to elderlies. There are two types of hyperhidrosis: generalized and focal. Treatment depends on the symptoms presented. In more severe cases, radiofrequency sympatholysis and bilateral thoracic sympathectomy are the options. However, recurrence is possible or the postoperative appearance of conditions called compensatory hyperhidrosis or reflex hyperhidrosis. We describe two cases of patients treated with Cannabidiol who had significant and unexpected improvement of hyperhidrosis. The first patient received Cannabidiol specific for public presentations at work, and the second patient had a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. The hyperhidrosis improved in both patients immediately after using Cannabidiol.

PMID:35170710 | DOI:10.31744/einstein_journal/2022RC5795

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How to Prevent, Reduce, and Treat Severe Post Sympathetic Chain Compensatory Hyperhidrosis: 2021 State of the Art

Front Surg. 2022 Jan 3;8:814916. doi: 10.3389/fsurg.2021.814916. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

The role of thoracic surgery in the management of hyperhidrosis is well-known and thoracoscopic sympathetic interruption is commonly accepted as being the most effective treatment. However, some concerns still remain regarding the potential to develop compensatory hyperidrosis (CH), the most troublesome and frequent side effect after surgery and its management. Compensatory hyperidrosis prevention may be achieved by identifying subjects at higher risk and/or targeting nerve interruption level on the base of single patient characteristics gathered during the preoperative survey. Furthermore, the surgical treatment may consist of different techniques aimed at reversing the effects of previous sympathetic interruption. To predict CH after sympathectomy, the most interesting proposals in recent literature are a temporary thoracoscopic sympathetic block and the introduction of new and targeted preoperative surveys. If the role of nerve clipping technique vs. the definitive cutting is still intensely under debated, new approaches have been recently proposed to reduce the incidence of CH. In particular, extended sympathicotomy has been described as an alternative to overcome severe forms. Last, among the techniques developed to reverse sympathetic interruption effect, diffuse sympathicotomy (DS) and microsurgical sympathetic trunk reconstruction represent advances in this field. An all-round review of these topics is strongly needed. Our aim is to cover all the above issues point by point. Although sympathectomy represents a small part of thoracic surgery, we believe that it is worthy of interest because of the profound effect that complications for a benign condition can have on patients.

PMID:35047551 | PMC:PMC8763307 | DOI:10.3389/fsurg.2021.814916

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Sofpironium bromide: an investigational agent for the treatment of axillary hyperhidrosis

Expert Opin Investig Drugs. 2021 Dec 10. doi: 10.1080/13543784.2022.2017880. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: In the last years, increased knowledge about pathophysiology of primary hyperhidrosis has led to novel therapeutic advances. Topical and systemic anticholinergic agents have been proven beneficial in reducing sweat production in primary axillary hyperhidrosis (PAH), although their use is limited by the increased likelihood of systemic anticholinergic drug reactions, particularly regarding the systemic agents.

AREAS COVERED: This paper provides an overview of pharmaceutical characteristics, efficacy and safety data from phase II and III clinical trials on sofpironium bromide (SB), a topical anticholinergic agent which has been employed for the treatment of PAH and has already received its first approval in Japan for the treatment of PAH in the form of 5% gel formulation.

EXPERT OPINION: The retrometabolic drug design of topical SB presents distinct advantages, by limiting systemic absorption and therefore development of anticholinergic adverse events. This along with the popularity of the non-greasy gel formulation is expected to increase compliance. However, this therapy still offers a temporary control of PAH, compared to sympathectomy or device-based treatments, such as microwave thermolysis. Hence, physicians should balance the effectiveness against adverse events of each therapeutic modality and use a personalized approach based on patient’s needs.

PMID:34890517 | DOI:10.1080/13543784.2022.2017880

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Palmar Hyperhidrosis Associated with the Azygos Lobe

Kyobu Geka. 2021 Dec;74(13):1086-1090.

ABSTRACT

A 66-year-old man visited our department because of palmar hyperhidrosis. Computed tomography had revealed division of the right upper lobe by a fissure and the azygos vein, and the presence of an azygos lobe had been diagnosed. Endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy (resection of T3 ganglion) was performed. Adhesion between the azygos lobe and parietal pleura was dissected to pulling out the azygos lobe and the sympathectomy was safely performed.

PMID:34876538