Table 1.

Advantages and disadvantages for different tests of neuropathy.

Method	Advantage	Disadvantage
Clinical/neurological examination	Simple, easy to use	Not sensitive or reproducible
Electrophysiology	Sensitive, objective	Assesses only large fibres Requires special equipment
Quantitative sensory tests (QST)	Evaluates both large and small nerve fibres	Subjective, low reproducibility, requires special equipment
Sympathetic skin response (SSR)	Simple, fast, objective	Semi quantitative, low sensitivity
Quantitative sudomotor axon reflex test (QSART)	Sensitive, objective, reproducible	Requires special equipment, time-consuming
Autonomic testing	Objective, quantitative	Moderate sensitivity, requires special equipment
Nerve/skin biopsy	Quantitative, sensitive	Invasive, problems with wound healing, specialist histological technique to quantify intraepidermal nerve fibre.
Corneal confocal microscopy/Corneal aesthesiometry	Rapid, noninvasive, reiterative and quantitative	Requires special equipment and expertise