The surgical treatment of axillary hyperhidrosis

Abstract

Axillary hyperhidrosis is a common condition and young people often suffer unnecessarily for many years in spite of the availability of good surgical methods for cure. We describe our own modification of Pettersson and Strömbäck's (1970) method of excision of the sweat glands. During the years 1972-6 218 axillary operations have been performed on 109 patients at the surgical clinic in Västerås for axillary hyperhidrosis. We reviewed 104 of these and found that 71 patients were completely satisfied and only 7 unsatisfied. Twelve patients wanted to be reoperated either because they still sweated or because they were unhappy with their scars. Thus, we found that overall the surgical methods are safe, simple and give good results.

Immunohistochemical Differentiation and Localization Analysis of Sweat Glands in the Adult Human Axilla

“…4 -6 In case of hyperfunction, hyperhidrosis was usually attributed to the eccrine glands and bromhidrosis to the apocrine glands. However, there has been no consensus about such a strict categorization, 7,8 as the two entities often occur concomitantly. 9 When, in extreme forms of hyperhidrosis, systemic or topical medication including botulinum toxin is ineffective, the surgical removal of axillary sweat glands is a valid treatment option.…”

“…A bewildering multitude of surgical methods has been reported to date, and, among the most important, three classic methods (types I through III) can be identified. 10 Type I removes (i.e., excises, curettes, suctions, or vaporizes) only the subcutaneous tissue and spares the skin [11][12][13] ; type II removes subcutaneous tissue and skin en bloc, mostly in the dome of the axilla 8,14 ; and type III is a combination of type I and II, with removal of subcutaneous tissue and skin en bloc centrally and removing only subcutaneous tissue in the adjacent areas. 4,10,15 Many of these surgical methods are based on the long-standing theory that eccrine glands are localized in the dermis and apocrine glands are localized in the subcutaneous tissue.…”

Axillary Sweat Gland Excision

“…The abrasive methods, which are outlined in figure 2 [8][9][10][11], use a small incision to remove the subdermal sweat glands and the subcutaneous fat down to the level of the superficial axillary fascia. Attention should be paid to the intercostobrachial nerves.…”

“…3a-e). Due to the known, limited radicality, the satisfaction rate of this type of procedure varies greatly from 50 to 95% [8][9][10][11][12]. The cosmetic result, however, is generally judged very good, since it leaves very acceptable, small scars.…”

Review of general surgery 1979

“…Johnson, Costa and Castro (1979) (Ellis, 1979). The extent of the disability is shown by the fact that these sufferers are only too happy to submit themselves to surgical treatment which is designed to remove the eccrine sweat glands in the axillae, corresponding roughly to the hair-bearing axillary skin, either by excision of an ellipse of the affected skin (Bergkvist and Engevik, 1979) or by subcutaneous excision. Breach (1979) (Ellis and Scurr, 1979).…”