Abstract
Polyneuropathy (PNP) includes a heterogeneous group of diseases characterized by peripheral nerve involvement. It is usually a diffuse or multiple disorder, which can be symmetrical or asymmetrical, usually affecting the long and peripheral nerves first and foremost (DK).
Symptoms can be sensitive, motor or autonomic, often mixed. The course of the disease is, depending on the etiology, acute, subacute or chronic (chronic-progressive).
Depending on whether the disorder predominates at the level of the nerve axon or the peripheral nerve sheath, PNP is divided into axonal and demyelinating. According to the etiology, PNP is divided into a number of subgroups: hereditary, metabolic, inflammatory - autoimmune, nutritional, toxic, autoimmune in systemic diseases and vasculitis, paraneoplastic.
From the point of view of rehabilitation, it is important to mention three groups of polyneruopathies, which differ from each other both in the clinical picture and course, as well as in therapies, including rehabilitation. These are hereditary motor-sensitive polyneuropathy (HMSN), metabolic polyneuropathy (mainly diabetic) and inflammatory polyneuropathy (AIDP, CIDP).