Proximal and Distal Muscle Weakness in Patients Receiving Hemodialysis for Chronic Uremia

Twenty-four patients receiving hemodialysis for chronic uremia were tested using basic physical therapy tools: range-of-motion measurements, chronaxy and strength-duration determinations, and manual muscle tests. Classic distal peripheral neuropathy was found clinically in four, and subclinically in twenty-three, of the cases studied. However, an additional neuromuscular dysfunction of some other classification was found to be present in twenty-three of the twenty-four patients tested.