Endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy: at what level should you perform surgery?

Abstract

Several interventions are possible on the sympathetic chain and the nomenclature has been confusing. The authors propose a uniform nomenclature for each procedure, mainly, sympathectomy for resection or ablation of the ganglion, sympathicotomy for the transaction of the chain, ramicotomy for the procedure preserving the chain and ganglia and severing the rami, and finally, sympathetic block for clipping above and below the ganglia. They recommend intervention on the T2 ganglia for facial hyperhidrosis and rubor, on the T3 ganglia for palmar hyperhidrosis, and on the T3 and T4 ganglia for axillary hyperhidrosis.