Dorsal versus ventral monofilament testing of the great toe for the identification of diabetic sensorimotor polyneuropathy.

We tested whether monofilament examination of the ventral rather than dorsal aspect of the great toe could better detect diabetic sensorimotor polyneuropathy (DSP). Although dorsal testing had better overall performance for identifying Subclinical DSP, the magnitude of benefit was small and there was no difference in identifying Clinical DSP.