Neural thresholds in the diagnosis of diabetic peripheral neuropathy / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the value of neural thresholds in diagnosing and treating diabetic peripheral neuropathy.Methods A total of 42 type 2 diabetics and 21 healthy counterparts were recruited,and grouped according to the patients' illness duration and level of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1C).The neural thresholds of their median,ulnar and superficial peroneal nerves were measured.Results The neural thresholds increased with the disease's duration.The average neural threshold of those living with the disease for 10 years or more was significantly higher than that with a duration of less than 10 years.The nerve thresholds also increased with the level of hemoglobin A1c(HbA1C),and they were significantly higher in the group with an HbA1C level ≥9 than those in the group with HbA1C＜9.There was a positive linear correlation between the neural threshold of the ulnar and superficial peroneal nerves and the HbA1C level (P＜0.05).However,there was no significant correlation between the neural thresholds of the median nerves and the level of HbA1C (P＞0.05).There was also a positive linear correlation between the neural thresholds of the median,ulnar and superficial peroneal nerves and the duration of the disease (P＜0.01).Conclusion The neural threshold changes with the duration of diabetes and the level of HbA1C.Evaluating the peripheral nerve function of diabetics may have clinical utility.