Can High Resolution Ultrasonography be Used in the Diagnosis of Ulnar Nerve Neuropathy in Diabetic Patients?

Abstract Background: Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is the most common complication of diabetes. Early diagnosis of DPN is essential for prognosis and treatment because early treatment decreases both short-term and long-term morbidity. Aim of Study: The aim of this study is to analyze the diag-nostic value of high-resolution ultrasound of the ulnar nerve in diabetic patients with symptoms and signs of peripheral neu-ropathy and diabetic patients without peripheral neuropathy (DWPN)by measuring the cross-section area and correlating the results with nerve conduction parameters. Patients and Methods: This is a prospective study high-lighting the role of NCS and US in the detection of ulnar nerve measurements in diabetic patients The study included patients with diabetes; 60 with peripheral neuropathy and 40 without peripheral neuropathy along with 30 control patients who at-tended our ultrasound radiology imaging unit during the period from December 2021 to August 2022. Results: We found that there is a statistically significant increase in the cross-sectional area (CSA) among diabetic pa-tients with DPN in comparison with control subjects (<0.0001) as well as in comparison with diabetic patients without periph-eral neuropathy (<0.0001). Also, we found a statistically sig-nificant negative correlation between the ulnar nerve CSA and nerve conduction parameters at most of the measurement sites (0.04-0.002). Conclusion: High-resolution ultrasonography (US) could detect early diabetes mellitus with peripheral neuropathy and could assess the prevalence of subclinical neuropathy thus con-sidered a valuable modality in the diagnosis of diabetic periph-eral neuropathy. Moreover, ultrasound is a safe and accurate method for detecting DPN and separating it from DWPN.