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Dr. Reisfeld attends International Symposium on Sympathetic Surgery in Vienna, 2005

The International Symposium on Sympathetic Surgery (ISSS) is held every two years, and this year’s was held in Vienna. At the symposia, the problems of sympathetic surgery are discussed with regard to Palmar Hyperhidrosis, facial blushing and facial sweating.

These are some key points and highlights to take away from this year’s meeting:

1.It appears that the majority of participants, including Dr. Reisfeld, agree with the fact that performing the operation at the T3-T4 level has advantages with regard to side effects.

2.With regard to cutting versus clamping of the nerve, no definite conclusion has been reached about which method is better. However, as previously stated Dr. Reisfeld believes that the clamping method is preferable with regard to the results and the potential for reversal.

3. Although some surgeons perform the sympathectomy for excessive axillary (armpit) sweating, Dr. Reisfeld publicly reconfirmed his belief that sympathectomy should only be performed for severe cases of excessive hand sweating and not for facial sweating, facial blushing or excessive armpit sweating.

4. With regard to preferred reversal surgery methods, the final verdict is not yet in. The two methods that are currently used are sural nerve graft (taken from the ankle) and intercostal nerve graft (taken from between the ribs). It will be a few more years before a definite conclusion is reached about which method is preferred.