Managing Neuropathic Pain in the Diabetic Patient

1 Introduction to diabetic neuropathies; 2 Classification and clinical features; 3 Diagnosis and staging; 4 Management of neuropathic pain

Andrew JM Boulton, MD, FRCP, is Professor of Medicine at the Manchester Royal Infirmary and Visiting Professor at the University of Miami, USA. Among his many awards, his contribution to worldwide care of the diabetic foot was honoured by receiving the American Diabetic Association's Roger Pecoraro Lectureship and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) Camillo Golgi prize, and he was the first recipient of the international award on diabetic foot research. In 2008 he was awarded the Harold Rifkin prize of the ADA for distinguished international service in the cause of diabetes and the first outstanding achievement award of the American Professional Wound Care Association. Professor Boulton was the founding Chairman of the Diabetic Foot Study Group and was previously Chairman of Postgraduate Education and then programme chair for the EASD. He is renowned worldwide as a leading educator and lecturer on neuropathy and the diabetic foot. He is the global chairman of the Diabetes Lower Extremity Research Group (DIALEX). Professor Boulton chaired the ADA's expert group on diabetic neuropathy that resulted in the April 2005 ADA statement on diabetic neuropathy, and was chair of the ADA Foot Council 2005-2007. He is a member of the editorial review board for Diabetes/Metabolism: Research and Reviews, Acta Diabetologica, Diabetes Care, The Diabetic Foot and International Diabetes Monitor. Professor Boulton has authored more than 350 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters, mainly on diabetic neuropathy and foot complications.

Loretta Vileikyte, MD, PhD, is Senior Lecturer at the University of Manchester and visiting Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Miami, USA. Her main research interests lie in the psychosocial aspects of the lower limb complications of diabetes and she developed the first neuropathy-specific quality-of-life scale that has been used in several clinical trials of new medications for painful diabetic neuropathy.