Perivascular Sympathectomy of the Metacarpal Artery of the Rabbit Paw Fails to Remove Distal Adrenergic Innervation

Abstract

Though vasospastic disorders of the hand are commonly treated by perivascular sympathectomy, which is believed to remove distal adrenergic innervation, our earlier experimental studies with rat saphenous vessels and rabbit ear vessels gave the opposite results. We therefore operated on 12 rabbits, carrying out perivascular sympathectomy of a metacarpal artery in the left forepaw, the right paw serving as a control. Six rabbits were killed after one week and the other six after three weeks, and the adrenergic nerves were examined by glyoxylic acid-induced fluorescence. Adrenergic innervation seemed to be normal in the distal vasculature after perivascular sympathectomy, and seemed to be missing only from the site of the operation.

Key Words:

• perivascular sympathectomy
• adrenergic innervation
• rabbit paw artery