The effect of skin temperature on vibratory sensitivity in polyneuropathy

In normal subjects, a rise in skin temperature causes a decrease in vibratory perception thresholds. In this study, vibratory thresholds on the foot were measured before and after local warming of the skin in patients with diabetic or uraemic neuropathy. On warming, the thresholds increased in nine of 11 diabetic patients while they decreased in 10 of 13 uraemic patients. In two-thirds of the patients, the response was outside the range of normal short term variation.