Cutaneous anaesthesia of the lower leg can improve sensibility in the diabetic foot. A double-blind, randomized clinical trial

Diabetic Medicine : a Journal of the British Diabetic Association
Göran LundborgL Dahlin

Abstract

Impaired sensory function in the sole of the foot in diabetic patients is a substantial problem caused by unknown mechanisms. Hand or foot sensibility can be improved by cutaneous anaesthesia of the forearm or lower leg, respectively, in healthy subjects. Hypothetically, cutaneous anaesthesia induces a silent area in the primary somatosensory cortex, allowing adjacent cortical areas to expand; thus, resulting in enhanced sensory processing. Our aim was to improve sensory function in the foot in Type 1 and Type 2 diabetic patients by application of an anaesthetic cream to the lower leg. In a double-blind study, 37 patients with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes were randomly assigned to cutaneous application of either an anaesthetic cream (EMLA) or a placebo cream to the skin of the lower leg for 1.5 h. Sensibility at five points of the sole of the foot was assessed before and after 1.5 and 24 h. Vibrotactile sense was also assessed. Primary outcome was change of touch threshold at the first metatarsal head from pretreatment to 1.5 h assessment. Anaesthetic cream on the lower leg resulted in a significant improvement of touch threshold at the first metatarsal head after 1.5 and 24 h. In addition, improvement of touch thresholds was also...Continue Reading

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Citations

Sep 25, 2012·Diabetic Medicine : a Journal of the British Diabetic Association·J NelanderL B Dahlin
Aug 13, 2011·Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice·Hisham Y Al-MatubsiMaher Salim
Jun 2, 2018·PloS One·Cale A TempletonLeah R Bent
Oct 18, 2016·Diabetic Medicine : a Journal of the British Diabetic Association·N ÇakiciJ H Coert

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