緣起：糖尿病周圍神經病變在糖尿病患中約佔了三成。本文根據臨床效果評估中藥治療糖尿病周圍神經病變的成效。方法：通過三種電子期刊（PubMed, CQVIP 以及Google Scholar）搜尋2005 年1 月至2010年1 月使用中醫療法治療糖尿病周圍神經病變的數據，排除試驗與病案報告，僅採用中文與英文的文章。結果：收集 95 篇採用中醫治療糖尿病周圍神經病變的摘要，其中有14 篇屬隨機雙盲實驗。文中使用的中醫治療包括，中藥外敷、針灸、推拿以及口服中藥。一般而言，中醫治療是輔助西醫的手段。控制組沒有服用西藥或安慰劑。其中13 篇文章中的治療組結果並沒有優於或等於控制組。14 篇中有2 篇提出服用西藥的副作用如頭暈、腹痛、以及症狀加重。結論：根據分析，中醫治療糖尿病周圍神經病變是有益的。結合中醫與西醫治療比單獨西醫治療來的有效。進一步質量化的研究才能產生更有力的結論。

Background: Diabetic neuropathy is a common complication affecting 30% of people with diabetes. The purpose of this paper is to review the efficacy of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) toward diabetic neuropathy
based on clinical studies.Methods: Literature searches were conducted in three electronic databases: PubMed,CQVIP (a Chinese scientific periodical database)and Google Scholar. All of the RCTs published that used TCM as an intervention from January 2005 to January 2010 were retrieved for thisreview. Uncontrolled trials, cases series, and case reports were excluded. The review was limited to articles in Chinese and English.
Results: We retrieved ninety-five abstracts that used Traditional Chinese Medicine to treat diabetic neuropathy; of these, fourteen randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were identified. The TCM treatments used in these
trials were: topical Chinese herbal treatments,acupuncture and moxibustion therapy, massage (tui na) therapy, and orally administered
Chinese herbal formulas. Generally, the TCM treatments were given as adjuncts to conventional treatment. The control groups received either conventional treatments or placebo. The outcomes of the treatment groups
were either better than or equal to the control groups in thirteen trials. Side effects such as dizziness, abdominal cramping, and worsening
of symptoms were reported by two of the fourteen studies.Conclusion: Based on our review, TCM may be beneficial to patients with diabetic neuropathy. Integrated Chinese and western therapy seems to be more effective than conventional medicine alone, we concluded that there are benefits for treating diabetic neuropathy using TCM. Although better- quality studies are needed in order to form a firm conclusion.