[Diabetic peripheral polyneuropathy]

Pain, tactile, vibration and temperature sensitivity, and also electroexcitability of individual nerves were determined. Neuropathy incidence was almost the same among males and females. There was found no association between neuropathy and excessive weight of the patients and the type of treatment. The frequency of affection increased with the advance of age and was maximum (40.4%) in patients aged from 55 to 64 years. The frequency of neuropathy proved to depend on the duration of diabetes. Sensitivity was chiefly distributed by distal and polyneuritic type. Affection of the lower limbs occurred in all the cases. Improvement after the treatment was noted in 69.3% of patients; however, in 13.5% of cases only it was objective in character. The irritative-pain syndrome was the one which yielded to the treatment best. Analysis of the results demonstrated the treatment to be more affective in younger persons with a lesser duration and severity of diabetes. The duration of partial remission constituted from 3 to 13 months. This pointed to the necessity of prophylactic therapeutic courses.