[Diabetic neuropathies. Basic principles, clinical manifestations and drug therapy]

Neuropathy is a serious complication in diabetes mellitus. It presents in a variety of clinical manifestations and is an essential precondition for the development of the diabetic foot syndrome. While the common distal symmetrical sensorimotor form of diabetic neuropathy cannot be clinically differentiated from neuropathies of other etiologies, the less common focal forms of diabetic neuropathy require the differential diagnosis from other localized disorders. In most patients diabetic neuropathies can be diagnosed on clinical grounds. Early recognition is important, and intensive glycemic control is paramount in all therapeutic efforts.