Changes in palmar skin blood flow, perfusion index and temperature during endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy
Asano, M.; Tanaka, M.; Kusaka, H.; Sakai, M.; Minami, T.
Masui. Japanese Journal of Anesthesiology 59(12): 1474-1478
2010
ISSN/ISBN: 0021-4892 PMID: 21229684 Document Number: 642493
In endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy (ETS), it is required to perform accurate cautery of the sympathetic trunk. Monitoring of palmar skin blood flow and temperature has been used to assess the efficacy of ETS. This study investigated whether Perfusion Index (PI) is useful in assessing palmar skin blood flow and temperature in ETS. We studied 5 patients (1 man, 4 women) with palmar hyperhidrosis who had undergone a total of 10 ETS procedures. We measured skin blood flow, temperature and PI during ETS and evaluated the results. Significant correlations were found between increases in skin blood flow and PI after ETS in cases with the palmar skin temperature just before ETS of below 35 degrees C. In these cases, we can substitute increases in PI with increases in skin blood flow during ETS.