The value of multiple neurophysiological tests in the diagnosis of diabetic peripheral neuropathy / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the value of united nerve electrophysiological tests in the diagnosis of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DNP).Methods The quantitative temperature threshold (QTT), including the cold sensation threshold (CST) , thermal sensation threshold (WST), cold pain threshold (CPT) and thermal pain threshold (HPT), sympathetic skin response (SSR) and nerve conduction velocity (NCV) were measured for 85 diabetic patients.Results The abnormal rate of QTT was 84.71％ , significantly higher than that of SSR and NCV (56.47％ and 31.76％ respectively).However, no significant difference was found in the abnormal rate of QTT between the DPN asymptomatic group and DPN symptomatic group (78.85％ and 93.94％ respectively).There was significant difference in the abnormal rate of SSR (48.08％ and 69.70％ respectively) and the abnormal rate of NCV (19.23％ and 51.52％ respectively) between the above two groups(P ＜ 0.05).There was no difference in the abnormal rate of QTT for patients with short or long course of disease (77.77％ and 89.80％ respectively), but significant difference in the abnormal rate of SSR (44.44％ and 65.31％ respectively) and the abnormal rate of NCV (19.44％ and 40.82％ respectively) Conclusion The abnormal rate of QTT was highest in detecting the diabetic patients, and it is not related to clinical symptoms or disease course.However, the abnormal rates of SSR and NCV were related to clinical symptoms and course.It is more sensitive to diagnose DPN using united electrophysiological tests of QTT, SSR and NCV.