• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.271-275
• /
• 2001

Buerger's disease is a nonatherosclerotic occlusive inflammatory disease of the small and medium arteries, and veins of the distal leg or arm. Percutaneous lumbar sympathectomy is used to lower extremity occlusive vascular disease as well as Buerger's disease. Lumbar sympathectomy improves blood flow and provides pain relief in the lower extremity. We report two cases of lumbar sympathectomy using radiofrequency thermocoagulation in patients with Buerger's disease. After no paresthesia and muscle contracture at 50 Hz, 1 volt and 2 Hz, 3 volts, respectively, radiofrequency lesioning was performed for 90 sec at $80^{\circ}C$. After the procedure, both patients showed skin temperature increases greater than $2^{\circ}C$ on the affected extremity. Both patients received relief from pain and symptoms without complications. We consider that lumbar sympathectomy using radiofrequency thermocoagulation is a safe and effective procedure that can relieve pain in patients with Buerger's disease.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.354-356
• /
• 1995

Rectal tenesmus is a persistent, painful and ineffectual sensation of straining at stool or opening of the bowels. Lumbar sympathectomy was performed in patient whose main complaint was rectal tenesmoid pain resulting from hemorrhoid operation, and in whom analgesic or psychotropic drugs had failed in controlling the symptom. After chemical lumbar sympathectomy, patient was free from the rectal tenesmoid pain. It is concluded that lumbar sympathectomy is a safe and effective treatment for rectal tenesmus.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.38 no.3 s.248
• /
• pp.229-232
• /
• 2005

Lumbar Sympathectomy is a surgery for plantar hyperhidrosis, vascular and other reflex sympathetic diseases and has a various indications and physiologic effects. However it is not performed actively compared to thoracic sympathectomy because of its invasiveness. Therefore, we tried to perform lumbar sympathectomy using mediastinoscopy with small incision and introduce this new surgical technique. Material and Method: From July 2003 to December 2004, 18 patients undewent lumbar sympathectomy with mediastinoscopy at Inje University Sanggye Paik Hospital. There were 12 males and 6 females whose mean age was 24.3$\pm$8.2 years ranging from 18 to 67 30 cases of lumbar sympathectomy was performed with mediastinoscopy of which 24 cases were for plantar hyperhidrosis and 6 cases for other diseases. Result: Mean operation time was 37.2$\pm$12.5 minutes and mean post operation hospital stay was 3.1$\pm$2.2 days. There was one post sympathetic neuralgia and one peritoneal opening. Conclusion: Lumbar sympathectomy using mediastinoscopy is a simple and effective technique and has the advantage of cosmetics, post operative pain and hospital stay. However, further studies with large number of cases should be carried out for better outcome.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.92-95
• /
• 2005

Primary hyperhidrosis, a disorder of unknown etiology, is characterized by excessive uncontrollable sweating, most often of the palm surface of the hands, armpits, groin and feet. To decrease the symptoms of hyperhidrosis, drug therapy, iontophoresis, excision of axillary sweat glands and thoracoscopic sympathectomy have been attempted. A lumbar sympathectomy is one of the available choices for the treatment hyperhidrosis of the lower extremities. A 28-year old female patient presented with excessive sweating of her hands and feet. For the treatment of her foot hyperhidrosis, a bipolar radiofrequency ablation system was used to ablate the lumbar sympathetic ganglion, with a successful result. This modality will receive greater attention as an available alternative to lumbar sympathetic neurolysis.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.108-112
• /
• 1992

Pain from pelvic cancer is very difficult to manage because it's vague ness and bilateral nature. Furthermore, nerve blocks in this area are dangerous because sensory afferent nerves from pelvic viscera are adjacent to nerves that regulate bowel and bladder control, and motor nerve of lower extremities'. Bilateral lumbar sympathectomy has been used for malignant pelvic pain with little risk of neurologic complication. However it is not a specific block for pelvic visceral pain, because the lumbar sympathetic chain does not innervate pelvic viscera in a direct manner. Therefore the potentials of lumbar sympathectomy for pelvic visceral pain are attributed to caudad diffusion of neurolytic agents to the smperior hypogastric plexus. I have experienced 3 cases of superior hypogastric plexus neurolysis per se without any significant complications.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.196-201
• /
• 2000

Background: Currently, minimally invasive operations are preferred to open surgery whenever possible. Lumbar sympathectomy using RF (radiofrequency) thermocoagulation is both safe and minimally invasive. The problem with the technique is that it cannot be performed successfully in a significant number of cases. If the temperature change in the sole is monitored immediately after the procedure then it can be determined if the procedure needs to be repeated. Methods: A curved tip cannula, 150 mm long with a 10 mm active tip, was used for RF lumbar sympathectomy. The temperature of the soles of both the foot on the affected side and the foot on the control side was monitored immediately before the procedure, immediately after making the L2 lesion, immediately after making the L3 lesion and at 5, 10, and 15 minutes after the procedure. Results: No statistically significant difference was observed in the temperature of the two soles before making the lesions. In the 24 of the 27 patients, there were prominent differences in temperature between the two soles at 10 minutes after the procedures. 11 of the 24 patients showed a significant temperature change after the first trial. But the remaining 13 required a second lesion on L2 and L3. Conclusions: We judged the success of the operation in the operating room by monitoring the temperature difference in the soles of the feet. When no increase in the temperature difference is observed, we can move the electrode and make another lesion. With this procedure, we can drastically increase the success rate of the procedure.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.50-54
• /
• 1976

Erythermalgia has typical triad of burning pain, redness and localized elevation of body temperature at the involved extremities and according to the etiolgy it can be divided as primary (unknown) and secondary erythermalgia. One case of typical primary erythermalgia involving both lower extremities in 20 year old male patient was reported with dramatic symptomatic improvement for 4 months after bilateral lumbar sympathectomy. And there was another case of primary erythermalgia involving both upper and lower extremities in 12 year old girl, and all the symptoms and signs were disappeared about one week later with combined bilateral thoracic and lumbar sympathectomy. It is considered the first case of primary erythermalgia treated completely with sympathectomy in Korea.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.318-325
• /
• 1996

Background: Sympathectomy relieves pain in sympathectically maintained pain, and subcutaneous injection of norepinephrine(NE) can rekindle mechanical allodynia. However, the mechanism of rekindling is not clear. The purpose of this study is to investigate which subtype of $\alpha$-adrenoceptor is involved in NE-induced rekindling of mechanical allodynia in sympathectomized neuropathic rats. Methods: Neuropathic injury was produced by tightly ligating the left L5 and L6 spinal nerves of 36 male Sprague-Dawley rats and bilateral lumbar sympathectomy was done at two weeks postoperatively. Starting at 7 days after sympathectomy, rekindling of mechanical allodynia was induced by NE and clonidine injected into the left paw, which was reversed by pretreatment of phentolamine and idazoxan. Mechanical allocynia was quantified by measuring the frequency of foot lifts to two von Frey filaments applied to the paw. Results: All tested rats displayed well-developed signs of mechanical allodynia at the left paw that were abolished by a bilateral lumbar sympathectomy. Subcutaneous (s.c.) injection of NE (0.05 ${\mu}g$) into the affected paw of sympathectomized neuropathic rats rekindled previous mechanical allodynia. These effects could be mimicked by an ${\alpha}_2$-receptor agonist clonidine, but not by an ${\alpha}_1$-receptor agonist phenylephrine. The NE-induced rekindling of mechanical allodynia was significantly reduced by prior s.c. injection of a mixed $\alpha$-receptor antagonist phentolamine (20${\mu}g$) and ${\alpha}_2$-receptor antagonist idazoxan(20${\mu}g$), but not by a ${\alpha}_1$-receptor antagonist terazosin (20${\mu}g$). The pretreatment of idazoxan produced dose-related inhibition of NE-induced rekindling of mechanical allodynia. The rekindling induced by ${\alpha}_2$-receptor agonist clonidine (5${\mu}g$) was also reversed by prior s.c. injection of ${\alpha}_2$-receptor antagonist idazoxan (20${\mu}g$). Conclusion: Subcutaneous injection of NE into the paw of sympathectomized neuropathic rats rekindles mechanical allodynia, which is reversed by an ${\alpha}_2$-, but not by an ${\alpha}_1$-receptor antagonist. Therefore, rekindling of mechanical allodynia in sympathectomized neuropathic rats is mediated by ${\alpha}_2$-adrenoceptor.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.41 no.4
• /
• pp.508-511
• /
• 2008

The incidence of the Buerger's disease is higher for the far-East Asian population that for western people, but the surgical outcomes have been documented to be unsatisfactory. So, more aggressive and multi-focused treatment modalities should be warranted such as stopping smoking or intravenous vasodilator infusion with surgery. We report here on a successful surgical case of intra-arterial direct infusion of Prostaglandin E1 concomitant with surgical bypass and lumbar sympathectomy to treat Buerger's disease.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.203-207
• /
• 1998

We have experienced 2 patients who underwent retroperitoneal endoscopic lumbar sympathectomy(RELS) for bilateral plantar hyperhidrosis. They had underwent thoracic sympathectomy by thoracoscopy 20 months and 1 month ago, respectively. The first patient had to be converted to the open procedure due to pneumoperitonium and she was reoperated due to continous sweating by the incomplete sympathectomy on right side. At follow-up after 70 and 30 days postoperatively, RELS results were graded as excellent, good, fair, or poor. The first patient was very satisfied as "Excellent" and the second was slightly less satisfied as "Good" with compensatory hyperhidrosis at perianal area. This RELS is a feasible procedure to plantar hyperhydrosis patients with less pain, minimal scar, short period of convalescence, and short hospital stay.short hospital stay.