Population-based Cross-sectional Analysis of the Epidemiology of the Surgical Correction of Hyperhidrosis in 1216 Patients over 11 years

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundEndoscopic thoracic sympathectomy is the definitive surgical treatment for hyperhidrosis, and a nationwide study suggested that it has been performed in a higher rate than which could have been expected due to climate characteristics, comparing to the national statistics.ObjectivesTo study the epidemiology of sympathectomy to treat hyperhidrosis in São Paulo, the largest city in the Southeast.Design and settingpopulation-based cross-sectional study.Methodsdata on sympathectomies to treat hyperhidrosis between 2008 and 2018 were assessed from the database of the Municipal Health Secretary of São Paulo, Brazil.Results65.29% of the patients were female, 66.2% aged between 20 and 39 years and 37.59% had addresses registered outside São Paulo. 1216 procedures were performed in the city of São Paulo from 2008 to 2018, 78.45% of which in only two public hospitals. The number of procedures significantly declined over the years (p = 0.001). 71.63% of the procedures were associated with 2 to 3 days of hospital stay, only 78 intensive care unit days were billed and we did not observe any intra-hospital death.Conclusionssympathectomies for the treatment of HH were widely performed in the city of São Paulo (1216 procedures), mainly in young (20 -39 years) and female patients, with more than one third of the patients having addresses registered outside the city. This is a very safe surgery, with low need for intensive care units and no mortality in our series. There was a decreasing trend in the number of surgeries over the years.