The prevalence of peripheral neuropathy in hemodialysis patients

Uremic Neuropathy (UN) highly limits the individual self-sufficiency causing near-continuous pain. An estimation of the actual UN prevalence among hemodialysis patients was the aim of the present work.

We studied 225 prevalent dialysis patients from two Italian Centers. The Michigan Neuropathy Score Instrument (MNSI), already validated in diabetic neuropathy, was used for the diagnosis of UN. It consisted of a questionnaire (MNSI_Q) and a physical-clinical evaluation (MNSI_P). Patients without any disease possibly inducing secondary neuropathy and with MNSI score ≥ 3 have been diagnosed as affected by UN. Electroneurographic (ENG) lower limbs examination was performed in these patients to compare sensory conduction velocities (SCV) and sensory nerve action potentials (SNAP) with the MNSI results.

37 patients (16.4%) were identified as being affected by UN, while 9 (4%) presented a score < 3 in spite of neuropathic symptoms. In the 37 UN patients a significant correlation was found between MNSI_P and SCV (r2 = 0.1959; p < 0.034) as well as SNAP (r2 = 0.3454; p = 0.027) both measured by ENG.

UN is an underestimated disease among the dialysis population even though it represents a huge problem in terms of pain and quality of life. MNSI could represent a valid and simple clinical-instrumental screening test for the early diagnosis of UN in view of an early therapeutic approach.