Needle thoracic sympathectomy for essential hyperhidrosis: Intermediate-term follow-up

Background. Essential hyperhidrosis is a condition with excessive sweating localized to certain part of the body. A definitive cure can be obtained by upper thoracic sympathectomy. Method. Between June and October 1997, 117 patients with essential hyperhidrosis underwent needle thoracoscopic sympathectomy. Of the 94 patients, 42 were men and 52 women. Their ages ranged from 14 to 63 years, with a mean age of 23 years. Results There were no mortality or life-threatening complications. Symptomatic improvement was found in 95.7%. Compensatory hyperhidrosis was found in 71.2% of the patients, but in these compensatory hyperhidrosis were mostly tolerable. Conclusions. This therapeutic procedure is minimally invasive and very effective. Further development of the new device and surgical technique are expected to follow. (C) 2000 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.