Surgical peripheral nerve decompression for the treatment of painful diabetic neuropathy of the foot – A level 1 pragmatic randomized controlled trial

Abstract

AimsTo assess the efficacy of surgical decompression of lower extremity nerves for the treatment of painful diabetic peripheral sensorimotor polyneuropathy (DPN). MethodsPeople with painful diabetic neuropathy were randomized single-blind to a lower extremity decompression surgery (n = 12) or observation (n = 10) for 1 year. ResultsPain was the primary outcome assessed with 2 measures. The McGill pain visual analogue scores over time changed within the groups (p for time < 0.0001), and changed differently over time within the groups (p for group × time = 0.0138). The NeuroQoL pain sensitivity analysis significantly changed from baseline to 12 months comparing intervention to control (p = 0.0079), and the joint effect of group and time on pain scores was statistically significant (p for group × time = 0.0009). At the study end-point of 12 months, intervention group participants had over 3 times the odds of rating their pain as “better” compared to “unchanged” or “worse” in the control group (p = 0.0177). ConclusionsSurgical decompression of lower limb nerves was an effective treatment for decreasing pain in patients with DPN and superimposed nerve compressions.