Abstract
The sympathetic nervous system appears useful to wild animals in helping to mobilize energy stores and in facilitating escape from threatening situations. But, as Stone et al.1 suggest, such reactions may not be beneficial in anesthetized humans inasmuch as myocardial oxygen requirement may increase beyond supply. Do the adverse effects of stress now outweigh the benefits an intact sympathetic nervous system conveys? Should we ideally all be sympathectomized at birth, or at least preoperatively? Before answering this not so tongue-in-cheek question, we should first consider the details of the study by Stone et al.1 which has stimulated this question.
Permission requested for reprint from Anesthesiology (68:482–484, 1988).
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References
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© 1990 Kluwer Academic Publishers
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Roizen, M.F. (1990). Should We All Have a Sympathectomy at Birth? Or at Least Preoperatively?. In: Stanley, T.H., Sperry, R.J. (eds) Anesthesiology and the Heart. Developments in Critical Care Medicine and Anesthesiology, vol 23. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1966-2_24
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1966-2_24
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-0-7923-0634-4
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-1966-2
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