Mean serum uric acid levels in type 2 diabetics with and without diabetic peripheral neuropathy

Background: scarce local studies have been conducted to determine the frequency of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (dpn) and its association with serum uric acid. aim: to determine in diabetic patients the frequency of diabetic peripheral neuropathy and to compare mean serum uric acid in diabetic patients with and without peripheral neuropathy methods: this study was carried out at department of medicine,university college of medicine & dentistry and university of lahore from 6th march 2015 to 5th september 2015. it was cross-sectional in nature. all patients having diabetes of more than 5 years duration were included. appropriate investigations were carried out in suspected cases for confirmation of other causes of peripheral neuropathy. fasting uric acid (12 hours overnight fast) was measured on venous blood samples in all diabetics enrolled in this study and expressed as mg/dl diabetic peripheral neuropathy was labelled. results: the mean age was 54.47±2.923 years ranging from 44 to 60 years. 121 patients (60.5%) were below 55 years of age whereas 79 patients (39.5%) were 55 years of age or below. there were 79(39.5%) females and 121(60.55%) males. eighty eight patients (44%) had diabetic peripheral neuropathy. one patient (0.5%) was in severe category,42(21%) were in moderate and while 45(22.5%) had mild dpn. mean serum uric acid was 5.27±1.082 ranging from 3 to 8mg/dl. 88 patients of diabetic peripheral neuropathy had mean serum uric acid value 5.25±1.064 mg/dl. conclusion: it is concluded that at current sample size,frequency of diabetic peripheral neuropathy is high (44%). 88 patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy had mean serum uric acid value 5.25±1.064 mg/dl while it was 5.28±1.1 mg/dl in patients without diabetic painful neuropathy. © 2016,lahore medical and dental college. all rights reserved.