Screening for peripheral neuropathy in patients treated by chronic hemodialysis.

Observations were made on the occurrence of peripheral neuropathy in a series of 139 patients admitted to a chronic dialysis program over a 10-year period. Evidence of neuropathy was obtained in approximately 50% of these patients over the total period. Once dialysis was instituted, distal paresthesiae evident before the inception of dialysis tended to clear rapidly. Occurrence of the symptom of "restless legs" correlated positively with the presence of neuropathy. Persistent neuropathy was more commonly sensory than motor, and its features were consistent with a predominant loss of large myelinated fibers. This analysis suggests that multiple factors may be involved in the origin of uremic neuropathy.