Percutaneous Solution for Sweaty Hands

A minimally invasive procedure that is assisted by CT fluoroscopy can permanently cure people who suffer from palmar hyperhidrosis, commonly known as "sweaty hands.” The condition is caused by an overactivity of the sympathetic nervous system.

Percutaneous sympathectomy with computed tomography (CT) fluoroscopy is a 20-minute procedure requiring no anesthesia, with no risk of nerve damage or bleeding and only minimal risk of Horner syndrome, which affects movement of the eyelid.

Previously, the only known permanent treatments for sweaty hands were thoracic conventional or endoscopic surgical sympathectomies that required general or local anesthesia.

In the procedure, doctors make a single needle puncture through the upper back and, using CT guidance, inject a phenol-based medication that interrupts the nerve tracts and nodes that transmit signals to the sweat glands. Most patients require a single treatment for each side. As with surgical sympathectomy, there is an unpredictable but rare risk of compensatory sweating at the level of the chest.

"This is the most precise and effective treatment of palmar hyperhidrosis available,” said Dr. Hugues Brat, M.D., head of the radiology department at Centre Hospitalier Hornu-Frameries (Hornu, Belgium), who performed the procedure.