<unk>  <unk>  is a surgical procedure where certain portions of the sympathetic nerve trunk are destroyed.<unk>  is used to treat hyperhidrosis, facial blushing, social phobia, Raynaud's disease and Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy. By far the most common complaint treated with<unk>  is palmar hyperhidrosis, or "sweaty palms".<unk>  refers to the destruction of tissue anywhere in either of the two sympathetic trunks, long chains of nerve ganglia lying along either side of the spine. Each trunk is broadly divided into three regions: cervical (up by the neck),<unk>  (in the chest) and lumbar (in the lower back). The most common area targeted in<unk>  is the upper<unk>  region, that part of the sympathetic chain lying between the first and fifth<unk>  vertebrae.<unk>  surgery works by dissection nerve tissue in the upper<unk>  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.
When performed<unk> ally, the surgeon penetrates the chest cavity, making holes about the diameter of a soda straw between ribs. This allows the surgeon to insert a tiny video camera in one hole and a surgical instrument in another.<unk>  is accomplished by dissecting the nerve tissue. The clamping method, also referred to as ESB<unk>  Sympathetic Blockade) employs titanium clamps around the nerve tissue, and was developed in an attempt to make the procedure reversible. However, reversal of the clamping procedure has a short time window (a few days or weeks at most) and may be incomplete. In a study by Dr. Rafael Reisfeld, it was concluded that the clamping method at the T3-T4 level is as effective as the coagulation or the excisional method done at the T2-T3 level.
It has been proposed that<unk>  can alter many bodily functions, including sweating, heart rate, heart stroke volume, blood pressure, thyroid, baroreflex, lung volume, pupil dilation, skin temperature, goose bumps and other aspects of the autonomic nervous system. It has been proposed that it can also diminish the body's physical reaction to exercise and possibly reactions to strong emotion.
Endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy
Chest pain interventions
Respiratory splinting
Bronchial thermoplasty
Intra-aortic balloon pump
Intrapulmonary percussive ventilator
Anti-stuttering devices
Positive airway pressure