Thoracic sympathectomy is appropriate for individuals with symptoms of severe, incapacitating primary hyperhidrosis of the upper and lower extremities, especially after all the common medical treatments have failed. Symptoms consist of excessive sweating at the armpits, hands, groin and feet. Symptoms are so severe that the hands, as well as the axillae, may be dripping sweat, leading to difficulties encountered in business and social conditions. The results of the operation are quite dramatic. Both upper and lower extremities are warm and dry when the patient wakes up from anesthesia.
Patients are usually amazed that their hands are warm and dry for the first time in many years.
In cases when spontaneous blushing is present the condition is also usually corrected, as is profuse sweating of the face. The results are usually permanent. The University of Maryland Medical Center is one of several medical centers in the U.S. that now offers thoracoscopic sympathectomy as a treatment for hyperhidrosis and facial blushing. To undergo this procedure at the University of Maryland Medical Center, you will start by having our team evaluate your condition and appropriateness for surgical treatment. You will meet with a thoracic surgeon and nurse.