Comparison of the efficacy of ETS with different segments for palmar, axillary and plantar hyperhidrosis

To compare the near and long-term outcomes of endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy (ETS) for palmar, axillary and plantar hyperhidrosis.

We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 218 patients with hyperhidrosis who were admitted to the Department of Thoracic Surgery of Gansu Provincial People’s Hospital for surgical treatment from April 2014 to August 2021. The patients were divided into three groups according to the method of ETS and the perioperative clinical data and postoperative follow-up data were collected to compare the near and long term outcomes of the three groups.

There were 197 eligible patients at follow-up, 60 patients in the R4 cut-off group, 95 patients in the R3 + R4 cut-off group and 42 patients in the R4 + R5 cut-off group. There were no statistically significant differences in baseline indicators such as sex, age and positive family history among the three groups (P > 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between the three groups in terms of operative time (P = 0.148), intraoperative bleeding (P = 0.308) and postoperative hospital stay (P = 0.407). Postoperatively, all three groups showed significant relief of palmar hyperhidrosis symptoms, with the R3 + R4 group having an advantage in terms of relief of axillary hyperhidrosis symptoms, patient satisfaction and quality of life index at 6 months postoperatively and the R4 + R5 group having an advantage in terms of relief of plantar hyperhidrosis symptoms. The difference in compensatory hyperhidrosis at 12 months postoperatively was not statistically significant among the three groups (P = 0.867), but the incidence was higher in the R3 + R4 and R4 + R5 groups than that in the R4 group.

Patients with simple palmar hyperhidrosis can first consider R4 cut-off treatment; R3 + R4 cut-off is more effective in treating palmar hyperhidrosis combined with axillary hyperhidrosis; R4 + R5 cut-off is more effective in treating palmar hyperhidrosis combined with plantar hyperhidrosis. However, patients need to be informed that R3 + R4 and R4 + R5 dissection may increase the risk of severe compensatory hyperhidrosis after surgery.