Long-term sensory deficit after Guillain-Barre syndrome

In order to document the sensory deficit still present several years after onset of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) and to determine if the sensory resi dua have a disrupting effect on daily life, 122 patients were asked to coop erate in a neurological examination and to complete a questionnaire three t o six years after onset. On functional assessment 84 patients had no or onl y minor neurological symptoms or signs, 24 patients showed moderate recover y and 14 patients were left with severe residual signs. On neurological exa mination, residual sensory deficit was found in the arms of 38% of the pati ents and in the legs of 66% of the patients. Sensory disturbance was experi enced as moderate to severe in the arms of 27% of the patients and in the l egs of 40% of the patients. Muscle aches and cramps were still present in 4 8%. There was a statistically significant relation between muscle aches and cramps and objective residual sensory deficit but not with residual weakne ss. Furthermore, in the group of patients with a pure motor GBS, significan tly fewer people suffered from muscle aches and cramps than in the remainin g patients (p=0.04). Twenty-five percent of patients changed jobs after the ir illness, and 44% gave up some leisure activities. It can be concluded th at many patients still suffer from sensory deficit, and a considerable numb er experience these as moderately to seriously disruptive, especially in th e legs. Muscle aches and cramps seems to be related to sensory rather than motor dysfunction.