Experience in thoracoscopic sympathectomy for hyperhidrosis with concomitant pleural adhesion

Thoracoscopic (transthoracic endoscopic) sympathectomy, known worldwide as the best method for treatment of hyperhidrosis, is regarded as having two major contraindications: pleural adhesion and coagulopathy. We embarked on this study to prove that it is possible and highly feasible to do thoracoscopic sympathectomy, even in the presence of severe pleural adhesion, as long as the surgeon knows anatomy and is well-trained in performing this procedure. From October 1, 1989, through December 31, 1992, we treated 719 cases of hyperhidrosis palmaris (325 male and 394 female patients), by the thoracoscopic method at Tainan Municipal Hospital. Among them, 24 cases (3.5%), 19 male and 5 female patients, had concomitant pleural adhesions. The causes of pleural adhesion were pulmonary tuberculosis, chronic bronchitis, previous operations for hyperhidrosis, and a few with uncertain origins. Except for the first encountered case of hyperhidrosis with pleural adhesion, which was treated by mini-thoracotomy after failure of a thoracoscopic approach through the right thoracic cavity, the remainder of the 23 cases were treated successfully by the thoracoscopic method. In cases with bilateral pleural adhesions, the right thoracic cavity was more frequently involved and more severely. The incidence of pleural adhesion in hyperhidrosis is 3.5% in our series; all, except the first case, were treated thoracoscopically. Coagulopathy is for us, therefore, the only remaining contraindication of thoracoscopic sympathectomy.