What is a Dorsal Sympathectomy

Person had dorsal sympathectomy and is now experiencing recurrence. Person wanted to know what can be done.

Before the advent of endoscopic procedures including ETS sympathectomy one of the methods that was used specifically by neurosurgeons was a procedure called dorsal sympathectomy. It was a very aggressive approach to deal with hyperhidrosis and it was associated with a long hospital stay and a severe amount of pain. Fortunately it was replaced with a much less invasive procedure known as ETS.

For patients who previously had dorsal sympathectomy and are now experiencing a recurrence, it is possible now to go back endoscopically into their chest cavity and perform ETS with a very high success rate. This procedure can be done without any of the severe side effects associated with dorsal sympathectomy. Keep in mind this does pose some challenges for the surgeon so it should be discussed thoroughly with the surgeon