Peripheral Blood Chemistry Changes After Unilateral Lumbar Sympathectomy

Abstract

Few studies have been reported on peripheral blood chemistry changes subsequent to sympathectomy. Fontaine and Jung 1 did unilateral cervical sympathectomies on rabbits and then produced experimental wounds of both ears. They found a higher pH in the exudate from the wound on the sympathectomized side compared to the “normal”. Beattie, et al., 2 studied chemical changes in hind leg muscles after unilateral lumbar sympathectomy. They found within 6 weeks of operation, (1) a rise in the water content, (2) a slight swing in the reaction to the alkaline side and (3) a lower lactic acid value on the sympathectomized side. Buttner, 3 doing similar work, found an increase in glycogen, lactic acid and ammonia and a decrease in phosphorus. Britton, 4 however, found a decreased glycogen content in the muscles while Dworken 5 and coworkers found no essential differences in muscle glycogen.

In the work reported here studies were made on the return blood flow from the hind legs after unilateral lumbar sympathectomy, which included at least 3 ganglia and intervening chain. Dogs were used and aseptic technique employed throughout. Blood examinations were made from 2 days to 7 months post-operative. The blood was drawn simultaneously from both femoral veins at the same level, when the dogs were perfectly quiet and relaxed.

Thirteen dogs were used and 33 CO₂ determinations were made. In CO₂ estimations made 2 days after operation, no essential changes were noted in the 2 sides. Twenty-three determinations were made from one week to 5 months after operation and the average CO₂ content on the sympathectomized side was 2.1 volumes % lower than the non-sympathectomized side. These differences varied from 1.5 to 5.2 volumes %. This difference in CO₂ disappeared after 5 months, although one dog showed no changes after 6 weeks. One, examined at 6 and 7 months after operation, has shown no CO₂ differences, although marked changes were present previously.