CLINICAL AND ELECTRONEUROGRAPHIC EVALUATION OF NEUROPATHY AMONG DIABETIC PATIENTS IN SHIRAZ

Neuropathy is a common complication of diabetes mellitus. Meticulous neurological examination and electrodiagnosis are valuable tools in early diagnosis of neuropathy and prevention of its sequels. A hundred and three randomly selected diabetic patients were recruited from the endocrine clinic. Mean age of patients was 52.6 ±14 years. 29.4% had type 1 and 70.6% had type 2 diabetes.Medical history was taken from patients and neurological examination was done. Electroneurographic examination included nerve conduction velocity, action potential amplitude, distal latency and H reflex measurements. Neuropathy was found in 79.4% of patients. The prevalence of neuropathy had a direct relation with duration of the disease. The most common complaints were tingling and numbness of extremities (72%) and burning sensation of the feet (36%). The most common physical findings were abnormal ankle jerk (92%), and decreased vibration perception (76%) in feet. Abnormal H reflex(92.5%) and decreased amplitude of action potentials (79%) were the most common electroneurographic findings. There was a strong correlation between clinical and electroneurographic findings. Neuropathy was quite common in diabetic patients. Neurologic examination is, therefore, recommended to prevent unnecessary workups and prevent complications.