Review

. 2020 Nov 28;10(12):1022.

doi: 10.3390/diagnostics10121022.

A Systematic Review of Pharmacologic and Rehabilitative Treatment of Small Fiber Neuropathies

Michele Vecchio^{1

2}, Rita Chiaramonte¹, Marcello Romano³, Piero Pavone⁴, Giuseppe Musumeci^{5

6

7}, Giulia Letizia Mauro⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, Section of Pharmacology, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy.
² Rehabilitation Unit, "AOU Policlinico Vittorio Emanuele", 95123 Catania, Italy.
³ Neurology Unit, Azienda Ospedaliera Ospedali Riuniti Villa Sofia Cervello, 90146 Palermo, Italy.
⁴ Department of General Paediatrics A.O.U., Policlinico-Vittorio Emanuele University Hospital, 95123 Catania, Italy.
⁵ Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, Anatomy, Histology and Movement Science Section, School of Medicine, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy.
⁶ Research Center of Motor Activities (CRAM), University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy.
⁷ Department of Biology, College of Science and Technology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA.
⁸ Department of Surgical and Oncology Sciences, University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy.

PMID: 33260566
PMCID: PMC7761307
DOI: 10.3390/diagnostics10121022

Review

A Systematic Review of Pharmacologic and Rehabilitative Treatment of Small Fiber Neuropathies

Michele Vecchio et al. Diagnostics (Basel). 2020.

. 2020 Nov 28;10(12):1022.

doi: 10.3390/diagnostics10121022.

Authors

Michele Vecchio^{1

2}, Rita Chiaramonte¹, Marcello Romano³, Piero Pavone⁴, Giuseppe Musumeci^{5

6

7}, Giulia Letizia Mauro⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, Section of Pharmacology, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy.
² Rehabilitation Unit, "AOU Policlinico Vittorio Emanuele", 95123 Catania, Italy.
³ Neurology Unit, Azienda Ospedaliera Ospedali Riuniti Villa Sofia Cervello, 90146 Palermo, Italy.
⁴ Department of General Paediatrics A.O.U., Policlinico-Vittorio Emanuele University Hospital, 95123 Catania, Italy.
⁵ Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, Anatomy, Histology and Movement Science Section, School of Medicine, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy.
⁶ Research Center of Motor Activities (CRAM), University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy.
⁷ Department of Biology, College of Science and Technology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA.
⁸ Department of Surgical and Oncology Sciences, University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy.

PMID: 33260566
PMCID: PMC7761307
DOI: 10.3390/diagnostics10121022

Abstract

The aim of this systematic review is to guide the physician in defining the pharmacologic and rehabilitative therapeutic approaches for adopting the best strategies described in the current literature. The search was conducted in PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library and Web of Science to identify the treatment of small fiber neuropathies. Two reviewers independently reviewed and came to a consensus on which articles met inclusion/exclusion criteria. The authors excluded the duplicates, animal studies and included the English articles in which the treatment of patients with small fiber neuropathies was described. The search identified a total of 975 articles with the keywords "small fiber neuropathy" AND "rehabilitation" OR "therapy" OR "treatment". Seventy-eight selected full-text were analyzed by the reviewers. Forty-two publications met the inclusion criteria and were included in the systematic review to describe the rehabilitative and pharmacologic treatment of small fiber neuropathies. Despite the range of different protocols of treatment for small fiber neuropathy, other robust trials are needed. In addition, always different therapeutic approaches are used; a unique protocol could be important for the clinicians. More research is needed to build evidence for the best strategy and to delineate a definitive therapeutic protocol.

Keywords: small fiber neuropathy; systematic reviews; treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

**Figure 1**
Flowchart of the process of literature search and extraction of studies meeting the inclusion criteria.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

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A Systematic Review of Pharmacologic and Rehabilitative Treatment of Small Fiber Neuropathies

Affiliations

A Systematic Review of Pharmacologic and Rehabilitative Treatment of Small Fiber Neuropathies

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

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