Cross-Sectional Study of the Relationship Between Medial Plantar Nerve Conduction Studies and Severity of Diabetic Neuropathy

OBJECTIVE: Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN), a complication of diabetes, is detected only in later stages.

Medial plantar nerve (MPL) can identify earlier stages of neuropathy.

We evaluated the correlation of MPL sensory nerve action potentials (SNAPs) and severity of DPN measured using the Toronto Clinical Neuropathy Score (TCNS).

METHODS: In this hospital-based, cross-sectional study, we recruited diabetic subjects referred for suspected DPN.

Neuropathy was graded with TCNS.

Sural nerve conduction studies were performed using standard techniques.

MPL studies were conducted using the modified Ponsford technique.

All evaluations were performed on Nihon Kohden (model MEB 9200K).

Averaged MPL SNAP was correlated with TCNS using Pearson's correlation coefficient.

To estimate a correlation of 0.4 with 80% power (P = 0.05), we needed 46 subjects.

Linear regression was conducted to adjust for age, duration, and diabetic control.

Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to obtain the cutoff for MPL SNAP values using the Youden index.

RESULTS: Fifty-one subjects with a mean age of 53.5 years (8.7) and mean duration of diabetes of 10.2 years (7.2) were included.

MPL SNAPs were recordable in 12 patients, and the mean amplitude was 5.15 (2.9) µV.

There was correlation between MPL SNAP and TCNS (r = -0.43, P = 0.02).

No confounding was seen.

Use of MPL SNAP resulted in diagnosis of DPN in an additional six (11.8%) patients.

The ROC curve suggested that MPL SNAP cutoff of 1.05 µV had an accuracy of 67% in identifying neuropathy as defined by TCNS.

CONCLUSIONS: MPL SNAP has a moderate correlation with clinical score and identifies more diabetic neuropathy than sural nerve.