“neuropad”: Detect diabetic foot syndrome early
14.03.2017 12:32
Diabetic foot syndrome is one of the most common and serious complications of diabetes. “In order to detect disorders of the peripheral nervous system in the foot at an early stage, the function of sweat secretion should be examined regularly in people with diabetes,” explains Dr. Stephan Kress, Landau, and adds: “The “neuropad” indicator patch is easy to use and enables a quick and objective assessment of the risk of diabetic neuropathy.”
As a long-term consequence of the metabolic disease, disorders of the peripheral nervous system can develop in people with diabetes. Autonomic neuropathy usually occurs with sudomotor dysfunction, which includes reduced sweat production. Cracks and fissures occur in the foot. Sensorimotor neuropathy often develops in parallel - those affected have a reduced perception of pain. “If diabetic neuropathy goes unnoticed, ulcerations can develop, which significantly reduce the patient's quality of life and greatly increase the risk of amputation. Preventing foot ulcers is therefore one of the important concerns in the treatment of people with diabetes,” emphasizes Kress at the specialist press conference: “Diabetes Management from Germany” in Frankfurt in mid-February.
Fast and objective screening
The early detection of sudomotor dysfunction in the foot can be easily integrated into everyday practice or clinic life using the “neuropad” indicator plaster from Sanofi or can also be carried out by the patient as a validated self-test. “Due to the moisture (sweat) on the foot, the “neuropad” patch usually changes color from blue to pink within a few minutes in people without neuropathy. If this color reaction does not take place completely or only takes place very slowly, this indicates initial nerve damage,” says Kress, explaining how the test works and adds: “In this case, further diagnostics should be initiated in practice. If the test result is negative (no evidence of neuropathy), another check should be carried out every six to twelve months.”
According to the company, the indicator patch is currently the only test that can document changes in skin moisture on the foot as a self-test. It is suitable as an effective screening tool for diagnosing diabetic neuropathy of the foot and can identify patients at risk for diabetic neuropathy at an early stage. The good reproducibility and positive correlation of the “neuropad” test results with other common methods for detecting neuropathy, such as the tuning fork test, have been proven in studies with more than 3,500 patients. The indicator patch is also the only neuropathy diagnostic that is independent of the patient's cooperation. “The objective test can therefore also be carried out on patients with cognitive impairments,” says Kress.
According to information from Sanofi, the indicator patch is used in the current guidelines listed by the German Diabetes Society (DDG) as an examination method for assessing sudomotor function in the diagnosis of autonomic diabetic neuropathy (sweat test). In addition, there are special ones for certain health insurance companies and regions Early detection contracts with the “neuropad”.