Bilateral thoracoscopy for sympathectomy in the treatment of hyperhidrosis

Abstract

Thoracoscopic sympathectomy has been established as the least invasivetechnique with high success rates for treatment of palmary hyperhidrosis[1,4,5]. In our procedure both sides are treated during the same operation.A bilateral thoracoscopy was performed in 20 patients for incapacitatinghyperhidrosis. Immediate complications at operation were minimal. Allpatients reported satisfaction with the procedure in spite of compensatorysweating. The short hospital stay has significant financial benefits andthese are increased if both sides are treated at the same time. Thisprocedure is more aggressive than the single side procedure but themorbidity is not increased.