TECHNIQUE OF THE OPERATION.
The ordinary precautions for surgical cleanliness are to be observed, and general anæsthesia employed. The incision should be made along the posterior border of the sterno-cleidomastoid muscle, starting at the mastoid process and running downward to within an inch of the clavicle. The sternomastoid is separated from the adjacent muscles, the spinal accessory nerve cut, and the carotid sheath reached. This dissection is made with the fingers. The carotid sheath should always be opened in order to locate the pneumogastric nerve. I consider this very important because: 1. The nerve is sometimes outside the sheath, as happened in my second case, in which the pneumogastric was much atrophied and was external to the sheath. 2. Differentiation of the cervical sympathetic from the vagus is sometimes difficult. Often, in operating on the cadaver, I have found both nerves inclosed in the same fascia. It is needless to say that excision of the vagus instead of the sympathetic would not only defeat the object of the operation, but would add a serious complication. Differentiation of these nerves after opening the carotid sheath is not usually difficult, for in working upward the operator comes upon the ganglionic expansion of the sympathetic. The ganglion is seized with forceps and stripped. Its branches are cut first, then the cord passing below is severed, and lastly the ganglion is cut above, as high as possible. It is best to use curved scissors and to have the finger under the ganglion while traction is made, thus cutting on the finger and avoiding injury to the underlying structures.
If the middle ganglion is to be removed, it will be best to excise it first and then work upward. If the entire chain of the sympathetic is to be removed, as is done for epilepsy, and as is now advised in exophthalmic goiter by Jonnesco, the operation is one of great difficulty, owing to the location of the inferior ganglion. This is situated near the neck of the first rib. One of my friends, who is a skillful surgeon, in removing this ganglion ruptured the vertebral artery near its origin and was obliged to tie the subclavian to check the hemorrhage. After the latter has ceased the wound is closed with superficial sutures. The hemorrhage in removal of the superior ganglion is usually trifling, only a few small vessels being cut. The external jugular vein was cut in my first case, but not in the others. The patient leaves the hospital on the eighth or ninth day.
Jonnesco’s method, according to his latest communication on the subject, is different. He always employs the premastoid route where only the superior ganglion is to be removed, reserving the postmastoid for the excision of the entire chain. The carotid sheath is split, the internal jugular vein and sternomastoid drawn outward by a retractor; a second retractor draws the vagus and internal carotid inward. In the space made the superior ganglion is found. The deep vertebral fascia is opened, all the branches of the ganglion isolated and cut by blunt, curved scissors; when this has been done the ganglion is attached only by nerve strands above, a strong pull is made, and the ganglion gives way. The excision is then completed by cutting the inferior strands. In closing the wound, he uses both deep and superficial sutures.
He mentions a transient dysphagia and pain in the cranio-mandibular joint as occurring after this operation.
EFFECTS OF EXCISION OF SUPERIOR CERVICAL GANGLION.
The effects of removal of this ganglion are immediate and remote: The immediate are relief of pain, lachrymation and conjunctival injection, together with a discharge from the corresponding nostril, unilateral sweating, and contraction of the pupil. Often there is an immediate reduction in intra-ocular tension. These effects are noted within five minutes after the excision.
The remote effects are ptosis, which appears on the third or fourth day, improvement of vision, and in some instances a tardy contraction of the pupil and a tardy reduction of the intra-ocular tension. To these there must also be added a slight sinking of the eyeball into the orbit, and a feeling of heaviness in the head. What I have just written applies particularly to cases of glaucoma.
In exophthalmic goiter, after the excision of the ganglia, the exophthalmus and tachycardia are said to improve almost immediately and a reduction of the goiter soon follows.
Although Jonnesco speaks of the immediate reduction of the intra-ocular tension, yet this does not always occur. In my second case, at the end of eight days the tension was + 2. On the sixteenth day the tension was normal. In my first case reduction of the tension was immediate. The relief from pain in the first case was immediate and lasting. This patient had not been free from pain for two months previously. The slight ptosis following sympathectomy is to be attributed to paralysis of Müller’s muscle. Sinking of the eyeball is no doubt due to paralysis of the unstriped peribulbar fibers found in Tenon’s capsule. Contraction of the pupil is usually an immediate result; it may, however, appear tardily. Thus in my first case the pupil was unchanged until the fourth day after the operation; and it did not become at any time as markedly contracted as in the other two patients. In the third case—that of optic-nerve atrophy—the pupil was markedly contracted within five minutes after the excision.