Carotid atherosclerosis: An independent risk factor for small fiber nerve dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Aims/Introduction To explore whether carotid atherosclerosis is an independent risk factor for small fiber nerve dysfunction in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. Materials and Methods A total of 247 type 2 diabetes patients from Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital received carotid ultrasonography and quantitative sensory testing, including cold and warm detection thresholds, and some patients received cold and heat pain detection thresholds, respectively. According to the results of quantitative sensory testing, patients were divided into normal small fiber nerve function (NSF) and small fiber nerve dysfunction (SFD) group. Meanwhile, patients were divided into the non‐carotid atherosclerosis group, carotid intimal thickening, unilateral carotid atherosclerosis and bilateral carotid atherosclerosis group. The correlation between carotid ultrasonography with quantitative sensory testing parameters was analyzed by SPSS 26.0. Results First, the incidence rate of SFD increased significantly in patients with carotid atherosclerosis (72.2%, P