J Korean Acad Rehabil Med.  2006 Apr;30(2):163-168.

The Change of Skin Temperature after Thoracic Sympathectomy in Patients with Palmar Hyperhidrosis

• Park JM
• Auh KB
• Lee CK
• Kim SH
• Kim YJ
• Kim IS

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
The purposes of this study were to evaluate the change of temperature before and after thoracic sympathectomy in patients with palmar hyperhidrosis and to find the usefulness of infrared thermography for the assessment of effects of thoracic sympathectomy. METHOD: The skin temperature was measured before, one day and 30 days after sympathectomy in 28 patients with palmar hyperhidrosis. Temperature was recorded on forehead, cheek, neck, axilla, umbilicus and 6 sites of each hand and foot by infrared thermography and thermometer. Patient's satisfaction with operation was assessed by 10 point scale.
RESULTS
All patient who had undergone sympathectomy showed significantly decreased discomfort owing to hyperhidrosis by 10 point scale (p<0.05). The temperature significantly elevated on postoperative 1 day and 30 days on both palms as compared with preoperative state, bilaterally (p<0.05). There were no significant differences of sole temperatures among preoperative, postoperative 1 day and postoperative 30 days, bilaterally.
CONCLUSION
We proved significant effect of thoracic sympathectomy to the patients with palmar hyperhidrosis objectively, and we also quantified the elevation of palm temperature after sympathectomy.

Keyword

Palmar hyperhidrosis; Thoracic sympathectomy; Infrared thermography; Skin temperature

MeSH Terms

Axilla
Cheek
Foot
Forehead
Hand
Humans
Hyperhidrosis*
Neck
Skin Temperature*
Skin*
Sympathectomy*
Thermography
Thermometers
Umbilicus