Medical Treatments


American RSDHope
RSD - CRPS - Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy





Medical Treatments--

SYMPATHECTOMY

There are many versions of this procedure, sometimes the nerve is simply cut, or it can be burned or frozen with chemicals, and there are a few other types.

However, Sympathectomies have EXTREMELY LIMITED POSITIVE RESULTS and can have very damaging results.

Once thought to be "the answer" to RSDS pain is now shown, according to a National Survey of RSDS Patients conducted in 1998, to have a very low rate of long-term success and in three out of four patients makes the RSDS spread and/or worsen. The study also showed that there is a 70% failure rate within the first year.

This procedure is irreversible AND THANKFULLY LESS AND LESS DRS ARE PERFORMING THEM!

Many Doctors who once supported them wholeheartedly have now publicly stated they would never recommend this treatment for an RSD patient.

Endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy (ETS) is a surgical procedure where certain portions of the sympathetic nerve trunk are destroyed. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endoscopic_thoracic_sympathectomy - 52k - Cached - Similar pages

Sympathectomy
Sympathectomy is a surgical procedure that destroys nerves in the sympathetic nervous system. The procedure is done to increase blood flow and decrease ...
http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz...pathectomy.jsp - 51k - Cached - Similar pages

sympathectomy: Definition and Much More from Answers.com
More about Sympathectomy: Purpose Precautions Preparation Aftercare Risks Normal results Resources Sympathectomy Definition Sympathectomy is a.
www.answers.com/topic/sympathectomy - 67k - Cached - Similar pages

Thoracoscopic Sympathectomy
Surgical interruption of intrathoracic autonomic neural pathways has several useful clinical applications, particularly thoracic sympathectomy for upper ...
http://www.ctsnet.org/sections/clini...t_tech-17.html - 45k - Cached - Similar pages

American Sympathectomy Institute
A new, minimally invasive procedure to cure hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating) is available at the American Sympathectomy Institute at the University of ...
www.sympathectomy.com/ - 32k - Cached - Similar pages

Sympathectomy FAQs
Get answers to frequently asked questions about the sympathectomy procedure for excessive sweating from experts at the University of Maryland Medical ...
www.umm.edu/thoracic/faq_sym.htm - 22k - Cached - Similar pages

Sympathectomy - New York Presbyterian Hospital
Sympathectomy involves cauterizing (cutting and sealing or clipping) a portion ... In an endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy, the surgeon inserts a miniature ...
www.nyp.org/health/sympathectomy.html - 27k - Cached - Similar pages

Sympathectomy Failure
Sympathectomy is analogous to the act of killing the messenger. The sympathetic nervous system has the critical job of properly controlling and preserving ...
www.rsdrx.com/sympathectomy_failure.htm - 29k - Cached - Similar pages

Sympathectomy for neuropathic pain
Mailis-Gagnon A, Furlan A. Sympathectomy for neuropathic pain. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2003, Issue 2. Art. No.: CD002918.
www.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab002918.html - 24k - Cached - Similar pages

sympathectomy - Definition from Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary
Definition of sympathectomy from Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary with examples and pronunciations.
medical.merriam-webster.com/medical/sympathectomy - 26k - Cached - Similar pages

and more-
http://www.google.com/search?q=SYMPA...ient=firefox-a

Is this the same thing as a rasotomy? It sounds close.

tried to Google it but found the spelling was off - rhizotomy

http://www.google.com/search?q=rhizo...ient=firefox-a

Thanks, I used YAhoo it and it came up the other way. I thought it was wrong, but that was what it said.

I have had 3 of those, and if they are close to the same thing I would stay away.

thanks that is a great amount of information. I have Crps in mainly my upper body and want to get rid of mainly alot of the pain but it seems a scarey operation to go through. What does it effect after re-cooping from the surgery?
That has me most scared!
Linda

When I was going throught my initial diagnoses stage, one doctor mentioned this as a possibility. No firm dx,, no name to the procedure, no outline of side effects, just an offhand "well, we could try to cut the nerve..." This just sounded totally wrong to me.

After I discussed this with my PCP, he was shocked and exclaimed "Don't go cutting any nerves! They will never grown back, and it might not do anything." This was in 1986. He did not know what I had, or how to treat it, but he knew that cutting apart nerves sounded very extreme for a 33-year-old man.

I would say - approach with caution. Know everything you can, since this still sounds like a last-resort kind of thing to me.

Good luck

Mike

Dear Mike that is why im upset i had thoracic out let sydrome and he took out the first rib, some sclene muscles and a cervical sympathetectomy. And now i have RSD but he new there was a possiblety that i allready had from my other surgery on my shoulder that was 6 months apart. So why did he do that i feel he didnt read my records saying possible rsd. The big jerk im only 44 and he runied my life.

After being diagnosed with RSD in 1988, yes I said 1988, the mode of treatment included surgical sympathectomies. My result was more intense pain & the procedure being irreversible. If I had another chance, I'd never have it done.
Residing here in Iowa, I have trouble enough just finding doctors willing to prescribe pain meds. If your doctor wants you to have this done, my suggestion would be too run. Good luck to you...............................

Tony T.

Hey all!
If you're ever going to listen to me, listen to me on this one!!! My degree is in neuroscience, and this answer is a combo of my education and my doctor's expertise. (I went to UCSD- first rate neuro program, and my doctor/surgeon is at UCSD- first rate doc. I adore him. He also does research on RSD.)

A nerve is like a rope- the various fibers that make up the rope are the individual neurons. A sympathectomy just cuts that nerve. Or uses alcohol to kill it. Sounds great, right? No more nerve, no more pain! Yay! Unfortunately, our nerves are more like trees. They are living things. And what happens when you cut a tree down? The tree trunk doesn't grow back in just one place. It grows back 3, 4, 10, or even 20 new shoots. In terms of nerves, this means even greater connectivity than before, and unfortunately, even greater pain. More signals get through- more pain signals. Where there was only one neuron conducting the pain signal, there are now twenty.

This is why no doctor will perform a sympathectomy these days. They will only result in increased sensitivity and pain. It's pretty much guaranteed.

I truly hope that this explains why this is not a procedure you should undergo. Radiofrequency ablation, on the other hand, is believed to either shock the nerve for a period of time, or leave the myelin sheath intact, which provides a guide for the nerve to grow back into so that it does not over grow and become bushy. This procedure does not leave patients in more pain than they started out in. And on a personal note, before I had my spinal stim put in, I had up to 5 months of relief from RF ablations! 2 months on the low end, but that's still damn good!

If you have more questions, feel free to ask. I'll break it down for you!

Lynn