title: The effect of thoracoscopic sympathicotomy at the fourth rib (r4) for the treatment of palmar and axillary hyperhidrosis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Video-assisted thoracic sympathicotomy plays an important for the treatment of essential hyperhidrosis. Patients are usually satisfied with the surgical outcome at the early post-operative period, but suffer recurrence and compensatory sweating in the late post-operative period. There are many sympathicotomy methods to minimize recurrence and compensatory sweating. We compared the outcome of sympathicotomy methods above the third rib (R3) and the fourth rib (R4) with regards to symptoms, satisfaction, recurrence, and compensatory palmar and axillary hyperhydrosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  From January 1999 to April 2009, 39 cases of thoracoscopic sympathicotomy at the third rib (R3), and 94 cases of thoracoscopic sympathicotomy at the fourth rib (R4) for palmar and axillary hyperhidrosis were compared for early and late post-operative satisfaction, compensatory sweating and recurrence.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no sex or age difference between groups. Early satisfaction was 94.9% and 98.9% in the R3 group and R4 group, respectively. There was no difference in early satisfaction (94.9% in R3 and 98.9% in R4), late satisfaction (84.6% in R3 and 89.4% in R4), or recurrence (17.9% in R3 and 17.0% in R4) between groups. There was significant difference in compensatory sweating (71.8% in R3 and 33% in R4, p=0.002).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  R4 sympathicotomy demonstrated superior efficacy in the treatment of compensatory sweating compared to R3 in palmar and/or axillary hyperhidrosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Dongsan Medical Center, College of Medicine, Keimyung University, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae-Bum
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Chang-Kwon
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Dong-Yoon
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Kum