Pearls and Oy-sters: evaluation of peripheral neuropathies.

Michelle L. Mauermann, MD Ted M. Burns, MD Peripheral neuropathy is common, with an estimated prevalence of 2% in the general population and prevalence as high as 8% in those over the age of 55 years.1 Residents and fellows will undoubtedly evaluate many patients with various types of peripheral neuropathies during their careers. The evaluation for the etiology of a patient’s peripheral neuropathy can be challenging given the vast number of potential etiologies2,3 and the fact that despite an appropriate evaluation, a high percentage of cases will remain idiopathic.4,5 In this article, we provide a simple, easy-toremember algorithm that can simplify the evaluation of peripheral neuropathy.