Autonomic neuropathy: treatment

Autonomic neuropathy has numerous causes, some of them common, such as diabetic autonomic neuropathy, and others rare, such as Fabry disease, but all can produce disabling symptoms. Autonomic neuropathy can affect the sympathetic, parasympathetic, and enteric branches of the autonomic nervous system to variable degrees, causing dysfunction of different organs such as heart, intestinal tract, and urinary bladder. In this article, the authors review the available symptomatic treatments of these dysfunctions, focusing mainly on orthostatic hypotension, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), gastroparesis, bladder hypomotility, and erectile dysfunction. A brief physiological and pathophysiological review and a discussion of available treatments are included for each disease discussed.