Damage to the peripheral sensory nerves responsible for causing symptoms of weakness, numbness and pain.

Causes

The most common cause of which are: alcohol toxicity, vitamin B12 deficiency, chronic renal failure, paraneoplastic, diabetes mellitus and vasculitis.

A helpful mnemonic that some use is ABCDE:

• Alcohol - excess alcohol causes thiamine deficiency which has a key function in providing energy to nerve cells
• B12/Folate
• Chronic Renal Failure
• Diabetes Mellitus
• Everything Else (!) - Vasculitis and Paraneoplastic

Clinical features

Neuropathies are commonly length dependent, and so the distribution is usually "glove-and-stocking" (with foot involvement preceding hand involvement).

Some affect the large fibres causing paraesthesia and proprioceptive ataxia, whereas other affect the small unmyelinated fibres causing burning, allodynia and hyperalgesia.