PASS – Patients Against Sympathectomy Surgery
Why has this site been set up?
Learn more about ETS side effects
This site was originally set up in September 2001 and is a collaboration of ETS (endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy) and ESB (endoscopic sympathetic block) patients in Australia who have had ETS surgery, and been unhappy with some of the side effects.

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Facts you should know
Important facts about ETS surgery
  • ETS has been BANNED in Sweden and STOPPED in Scandanavia since 2003.
  • ETS has been BANNED on patients under the age of 20 in Taiwan since 2004.
  • No objective trial has been published yet on the side effects of ETS/ESB.
  • No objective trial has been performed on the reversal surgery for ETS/ESB side effects.

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What is ETS surgery?
Learn more about ETS surgery
ETS is a minimally-invasive procedure whereby a nerve (T2) on the sympathetic chain in cauterised, thereby stopping the messages to sweat and flush.

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Science & News
Read the latest news about ETS
Coverage of all the latest information regarding ETS.

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Get in touch

New Zealand patients

TIMBO McCarty, an Australian/New Zealander who had been suffering from the side-effects of ETS for eight years and had been working on this Australian website, had enough of the side-effects and committed suicide on October 29, 2007, at the age of 45. His father and mother asked me to put this on the website and to let the world know that he wasn’t willing to put up with the side-effects any longer.

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More information

Is there a reversal available?
Yes. There are two reversal procedures available. If the nerve is clamped, then this a simple procedure of having it removed, but if scarring has occured and the clamp has been on the nerve for even a small period of time then the nerve might be destroyed. If the nerve is cauterised or destroyed, then a reversal method involving a nerve regraft must be employed. Read more…

Are there alternatives to surgery?
As we do not condone ETS or ESB (clamping) at all, we offer suggestions to treat conditions such as blushing/flushing/sweating as well as suggestions to help the side-effects of ETS and ESB. Hopefully as many people as possible can send in information about remedies they have tried; this can be anything from medication to an alternative treatment such as Acupuncture. Read more…