Sensory testing in patients with chronic venous leg ulcers using a 10 g Owen Mumford monofilament

Chronic venous insufficiency in the lower legs may directly contribute to tissue damage, and there is increasing evidence that neuronal damage may be involved. This study was carried out to determine the feasibility of using a simple neuropathy screening test in the community to diagnose sensory neuropathy in the feet of patients with chronic venous insufficiency.

We tested 15 randomly selected patients with documented chronic venous insufficiency with the 10 g Owen Mumford monofilament, in order to ascertain objectively sensory blunting.

Forty-seven per cent of the patients had normal sensation in the foot of the ulcerated leg and 53% showed some degree of neuropathy. A recent study comparing the performance of commercially available 10 g monofilaments showed that the Owen Mumford filament was one of the most accurate, with 100% buckling within +/- 1 g of 10 g.

This preliminary study indicates that the 10 g monofilament is an easy method of testing the sensory status of patients with chronic venous insufficiency in the community.