The surgery being performed here is digital sympathectomy!!
The surgery is considered in patients with Raynaud phenomenon and a variety of other ischemic conditions involving the hands and feet, that present with symptoms of pain, pallor, cold intolerance, paresthesias, and ulcerations. The picture shows the arteries that supply blood to the hand called the palmar arch. The radial artery can be seen on the right, and ulnar artery on the left at the level of the wrist. Sympathetic nerve fibers that cause vasoconstriction of the digital arteries course through the adventitial layer of the blood vessels. The term digital sympathectomy itself was coined to describe the disruption of sympathetic innervation that results from removal of this adventitial layer using microscopic surgical techniques. Without this sympathetic innervation, the hope is that there will be less vasoconstriction and increased blood flow to the digits in the hand. This is done for patients with conditions that lead to decreased blood flow such as Raynaud's phenomenon, systemic sclerosis, dry gangrene, etc. Photo by @overcomingtheoddsbook
Is this a common procedure? I see lots of cases of Raynaud's but haven't heard of the procedure.