Abstract

MADRIGAL-RENTERIA, K.; LARA-SOLARES, A.  and  GUEVARA-LOPEZ, U.. Alteration of nervous conduction and its relation with pain intensity in polyneurophatic diabetic patients. Rev. Soc. Esp. Dolor [online]. 2007, vol.14, n.4, pp.284-289. ISSN 1134-8046.

Objetive: To evalúate the intensity of pain in patients with diabetic neuropathy and its relation with the severity of nerve damage as reported in nerve conduction studies. Material and method: A descriptive and retrospective study in patients attending the pain clinic, from January 2005 to July 2006, with the diagnosis of painful diabetic neuropathy in the feet was carried out. Clinical records of patients attending at least three consecutive appointments and with a complete clinical evaluation were considered. Pain character was recorded and pain intensity was measured with a eleven points (0-10) visual analogue scale (VAS). The results obtained were evaluated with descriptive statistics and the hypothesis with Mann- Whitney U, to compare the numeric valúes of VAS with the severity of nerve damage reported in nerve conduction studies. Results: 108 cases were identified, 78 had nene conduction studies, 39 fulfilled all the criteria and were considered for evaluation. The rest were excluded due to the presence of further painful conditions (lumbosacral radiculopathy, entrapment neuropathies, postherpetic neuralgia) or because they did not fulfil the criteria. There were no differences in demographic characteristics. Depending on the neurophysiologic report, patients were divided in two groups depending on whether the affection was mild-moderate or severe. No significant differences between the groups were found in any of the three evaluations. Levéis of pain were very similar in patients with a severe affection (VAS 6.3) and those with a mild-moderate affection (VAS 5.9) in the first appointment. Conclusions In this sample of patients with painful diabetic polineuropathy of the feet, a relationship between the severity of nerve damage as shown in nerve conduction studies and the intensity of pain measured with a VAS was not found. However, they still are important as a diagnostic tool and further controlled studies are required to reach a consistent conclusión.

Keywords : neuropathic pain; nerve conduction studies.

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