A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL FINDINGS OF MOTOR NERVES IN PATIENTS WITH DIABETES MELLITUS AND HEALTHY CONTROLS IN AND AROUND DIBRUGARH TOWN.

Diabetes mellitus has emerged as a worldwide health problem with serious socioeconomic impacts. Vascular complications are predominant features of diabetes, owing to late presentation and delayed diagnosis. The most common and troublesome complication, associated with great mortality and morbidity is diabetic polyneuropathy which may be clinically evident or subclinical. Diabetic polyneuropathy begins early in course of diabetes, worsens gradually and becomes clinically evident when the condition is fairly advanced; hence lies the importance of early detection of diabetic polyneuropathy. Electrophysiological studies are the most sensitive and specific methods for detection of diabetic polyneuropathy. The present study was designed to evaluate and compare nerve conduction study parameters in motor nerves in patients of diabetes mellitus and in normal healthy controls. The study included 30 healthy controls and 60 known cases of diabetes, all aged 40-60 years. Of the 60 diabetics, 30 presented with symptoms of neuropathy and 30 presented without symptoms of neuropathy. Nerve conduction studies were performed using the equipment Neuro Perfect 4-channel EMG NCV EP and latencies, amplitudes and conduction velocities were evaluated. The latency, amplitude and velocity in cases were significantly different from those in controls. The mean latencies of median, ulnar, common peroneal and posterior tibial nerves in cases when compared to controls differed highly significantly. The mean amplitudes of median, ulnar and posterior tibial nerves in the cases differed statistically significantly in comparison to controls. On comparing the mean velocity of median, ulnar, common peroneal and posterior tibial nerves, the difference was statistically highly significant.