Rev Prat. 2001 Oct 15;51(16):1783-7.
La Revue du praticien
[Article in French] J P Azulay, J Pouget
PMID: 11795122
Peripheral nerve involvement is a frequent complication of type 1 and type 2 diabetes, and can induce major disability. Almost all types of clinical or electrophysiological disturbances may be present: mononeuropathy involving cranial nerves or a limb; multiple mononeuropathy; proximal acute radiculopathy; distal, symmetric, sensory polyneuropathy; autonomic neuropathy. Physiopathology intricates probably several mechanisms but metabolic dysregulation and ischemia are mainly involved. Despite numerous controlled clinical trials no treatment has demonstrated efficacy for peripheral neuropathy, excepting the optimization of diabetes equilibrium. However, symptomatic treatments are available, particularly for the management of neuropathic pain.