Recommendations: Neuropathy Screening, Treatment (1)

Recommendations for the screening and treatment of neuropathy in patients with diabetes are summarized in two slides Slide 1 of 2 All patients should be screened for distal symmetric polyneuropathy (DPN) at diagnosis and at least annually thereafter using simple clinical tests (B) Electrophysiological testing is rarely needed, except in situations where the clinical features are atypical (E) The diabetic neuropathies are heterogeneous with diverse clinical manifestations; they may be focal or diffuse Most common among the neuropathies are chronic sensorimotor diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) and autonomic neuropathy; although DPN is a diagnosis of exclusion, complex investigations to exclude other conditions are rarely needed Early recognition and appropriate management of neuropathy in the patient with diabetes are important for a number of reasons: 1) nondiabetic neuropathies may be present in patients with diabetes and may be treatable; 2) a number of treatment options exist for symptomatic diabetic neuropathy; 3) up to 50% of DPN may be asymptomatic and patients are at risk of insensate injury to their feet; 4) autonomic neuropathy and particularly cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy is associated with substantial morbidity, mortality103Reference American Diabetes Association. Standards of medical care in diabetes—2013. Diabetes Care 2013;36(suppl 1):S37-S38.