Interventions to reduce diabetic peripheral neuropathy complaints in type II diabetes mellitus patients: a systematic review

Diabetic neuropathy is the most common complication of diabetes, likely to affect every segment of the central nervous system. Studies have shown that 30 - 40% of diabetics show symptoms of diabetic peripheral neuropathy. About 70% of patients who suffer from diabetes show some degree of neuropathy. Appropriate interventions to reduce diabetic peripheral neuropathy complaints are important in type II diabetic mellitus patients. The purpose of this systematic review is to identify the interventions to reduce diabetic peripheral neuropathy complaints in type II diabetes mellitus patients. The literature search was confined to the English language from 2001 - 2021. Several databases were searched to find relevant studies, including PubMed, Embase, Science direct, Medline and Web of Science for systematic reviews. All quantitative studies whose aim was to reduce diabetic peripheral neuropathy complaints by using non pharmacological interventions were included. Interventional studies with at least one outcome related to pain or sensory perception due to diabetic peripheral neuropathy were included in the review. The search identified 225 articles. After removing duplicate articles, 190 articles were picked out from the search. Each of the articles was screened out for titles and abstracts of 190 studies. Among these, 140 articles were excluded for various reasons. Hence, the “full text” of the 50 articles was evaluated for eligibility. Most of the articles, i.e., 42 articles were excluded due to absence of resonance with the subject matter and were not relevant to the topic. The remaining 8 articles were finally included in the review. Interventions to minimise diabetic peripheral neuropathy symptoms in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients were proposed in this review. The majority of the interventions focused on foot massage for neuropathic pain, and the typical intervention lasted 2 - 8 weeks, with a significant reduction in pain perception in individuals with type 2 diabetic peripheral neuropathy.