ObjectiveTo explore clinical outcomes of video-assisted thoracoscopic sympathectomy (VATS) for the treatment of palmar hyperhidrosis (PH), and compare the results between T2 segment surgery and T2-T3 segment surgery.
MethodsFrom April 2009 to August 2012, 48 consecutive PH patients underwent single-port VATS in Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University. There were 18 male and 30 female patients with their age of 14-40 (22.1±5.4) years. According to different surgical procedures, all the patients were divided into T2 segment group (29 patients) and T2-T3 segment group (19 patients). Preoperative characteristics, surgical results and postoperative morbidity were compared between the 2 groups.
ResultsPH symptoms disappeared after VATS in all the patients. Patients were followed up for 6-44(21.3±10.1)months, and 2 patients were lost in both T2 segment group and T2-T3 segment group. The incidence of postoperative compensatory sweating was 66.7% (18/29) in T2 segment group and 70.6% (12/19) in T2-T3 segment group. The incidence of moderate to severe compensatory sweating of T2 segment group was significantly higher than that of T2-T3 segment group (51.9% vs. 29.4%, P < 0.05). Twenty-six patients (96.3%) in T2 segment group and 16 patients (94.1%) in T2-T3 segment group were completely or partially satisfied with surgical results.
ConclusionVATS is the only effective surgical procedure for the treatment of moderate to severe PH. Both T2 and T2-T3 segment sympathectomy can effectively reduce PH symptoms after VATS, but the incidence of postoperative compensatory sweating is high, which has negative influence on patients'satisfaction.
