Somatosensory Evoked Potential and Nerve Conduction Studies in Diabetic Patients

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: This study aims the electrophysiological documentation of possible neurological abnormalities in diabetic patients with or without neuropathy symptoms. METHOD: Forty five diabetic patients, 15 male and 30 female, were included in this study. They were divided into symptomatic and asymptomatic groups and received various electrophysiologic studies including a nerve conduction study, F-wave study and median and tibial SSEP study. The clinical parameters were the clinical symptom and sign of neuropathy, disease duration, complications, HbA1c, and fasting blood sugar. Statistical significances of the parameters were observed between symptomatic and asymptomatic groups. RESULTS: The most sensitive electrophysiologic parameter was the tibial SSEP. For the documentation of diabetic neuropathy, the electrophysiologic study of posterior tibial, median, superficial peroneal and sural nerves were most useful. F-wave study did not reflect the early involvement of proximal nerve segment in diabetic patients. CONCLUSION: Multimodal neurophysiological approaches including a tibial SSEP study rather than the conventional nerve conduction studies can depict a broader and more complete map of the possible abnormalities of diabetic neuropathy.