types of peripheral neuropathy

Last reviewed 01/2018

Based on symptomatology or aetiology, peripheral neuropathies can be categorized as follows:

• Acute onset:
• Guillain-Barre syndrome
• Porphyria
• Toxic (for example, arsenic, nitrofurantoin)
• Serum sickness (postimmunisation)
• Diphtheria
• Malignancy
• Critical illness polyneuropathy
• Diabetes, uraemia (rarely)
  
  
• Predominantly motor:
  • Guillain-Barre syndrome
  • Porphyria
  • Diphtheria
  • Lead
  • Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease
  • Diabetes (diabetic amyotrophy)
    
    
• Predominantly sensory:
  • Leprosy Diabetes (distal sensory polyneuropathy)
  • Vitamin B12 or thiamine deficiency
  • Malignancy
  • Hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathy
  • Primary of familial amyloidosis
  • Uraemia
  • Lyme disease
  • Sjogren's syndrome
    
    
• Radicular:
  • Diabetic truncal neuropathy
  • Lyme disease
  • Sjogren's syndrome
    
    
• Painful neuropathies:
  • Alcohol, nutritional deficiencies
  • Diabetes (acute painful neuropathy)
  • Hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathy (HSAN type 1)
  • Arsenic
  • Cryoglobulinaemia
  • Lyme disease
  • Paraneoplastic sensory neuropathy
  • Vasculitic neuropathies

Reference:

• McLeod JG. Investigation of peripheral neuropathy. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry 1995;58:274-283