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

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Vecchio, Michele, Chiaramonte, Rita, Romano, Marcello, Pavone, Piero, Musumeci, Giuseppe, Mauro, Giulia Letizia·2020·Diagnostics
DOI 10.3390/diagnostics10121022PMC PMC7761307
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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.

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  • Diversity in professional practice contributes to heterogeneity in the literature, as treatment outcomes are shaped by differences in clinical approach, underlying etiology, and involvement of structures such as joints, muscles, and neuropathic components.

    “This diversity contributes to heterogeneity in the literature, as treatment outcomes are shaped by differences in clinical approach [15,16], underlying etiology, and involvement of structures such as joints (TMJ or spine), muscles, and neuropathic components – factors that complicate differential diagnosis [17,18].”

    From Efficacy of manual therapy by different healthcare professionals on pain and function in temporomandibular disorders: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials (2026) · cites this paper as [17]

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Vecchio, M., Chiaramonte, R., Romano, M., Pavone, P., Musumeci, G., & Mauro, G. L.
Affiliations
  • University of Catania (IT)
  • Ospedale Vincenzo Cervello (IT)
  • Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Policlinico "G.Rodolico - San Marco" (IT)
  • University of Palermo (IT)
Corresponding author
  • Vecchio, Michele
  • Chiaramonte, Rita
ORCID
Venue
Diagnostics
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2020-11-28
Volume
10
Issue
12
Pages
1022
ISSN
2075-4418 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3390/diagnostics10121022
PMC
PMC7761307
OpenAlex
W3108735768
Cited by
21
References
4
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 2
FWCI
0.19
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Diagnostics (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Nova Science Publishers (Nova Science Publishers, Inc.) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Pain Mechanisms and Treatments
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Peripheral Neuropathies and Disorders
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine › Pain Management and Treatment
Keywords
small fiber neuropathy, pharmacotherapy, neuropathic pain, treatment protocols, treatment evidence

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