Final answer:
Sympathectomy is the surgical procedure that interrupts part of the sympathetic pathways to alleviate chronic pain or promote vasodilation by cutting or clamping sympathetic nerves, and is associated with the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system.The correct option is 1.
Step-by-step explanation:
The correct answer to the question - Surgical interruption of part of the sympathetic pathways to relieve chronic pain or to promote vasodilation is what? - is Sympathectomy. This surgical procedure, known as sympathectomy, involves the cutting or clamping of sympathetic nerves to achieve pain relief or increase blood flow. In contrast to sympathectomy, parasympathectomy would involve the parasympathetic nerves, neurotomy refers to the cutting of any nerve, and rhizotomy is specifically the severing of nerve roots in the spinal cord.
The sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system is associated with the so-called 'fight-or-flight' response and most preganglionic neurons in the sympathetic pathway originate in the spinal cord. A sympathectomy might be used to treat conditions that are a result of excessive sympathetic activity, such as Reynaud's phenomenon, where there is exaggerated vasoconstriction.
Medications that affect the sympathetic nervous system include sympatholytic drugs which inhibit sympathetic function, and sympathomimetic drugs that enhance or mimic its function. The sympathetic pathway influences the target effector organs through a series of ganglia and nerve pathways, and interrupting these can decrease pathological sympathetic responses, such as chronic pain or vascular spasms.