the problem of finger in the patient with diabetes mellitus is important consideration in diabetology . generally , peripheral neuropathy that manifests with finger paresthesia , numbness , and blanching is common . nerve conduction studies , vibration and temperature threshold measurements , and neurovascular function tests are useful for assessment of these cases . however , some recent reports mention the concern on trigger digits in diabetic patients . in this brief article , the authors focus review and discussion on this specific topic . indeed , trigger digits can be seen in any population . however , some recent publications report on the importance of this disease in diabetes mellitus . the incidence of trigger digits was about four times higher than in the general population . the trigger digits can be seen in 1:20 ( cases with trigger digits : all diabetic patients ) . however , some other reports such as that by aydeniz et al . show no significant increase in the incidence of this condition in diabetic patients . it is concluded that the trigger digits are an important problem for the diabetic patients . screening for diabetes may be warranted in patients with involvement of more than three digits . the summary of the important publications reporting on the prevalence of the problem can be seen in table 1.[711 ] although there is a difference in the rate of reported prevalence and whether the prevalence among diabetic patients is higher than that of normal population or not is still questionable , it can not be refused for the important of the problem on trigger digits among diabetic patients . summary on some important publications reporting the prevalence of trigger digits among diabetic patients however , there is no clear evidence that diabetes mellitus increases the risk for development of trigger digits . although it is not questionable that overall musculoskeletal problems increases in diabetic patients , there is no conclusion on the specific trigger digits problem . focusing on the existed evidences , trigger digits are common in old diabetic patients but not relating to sex , age , and type of diabetes.[71113 ] it is of interest that there is an observation that limited joint mobility is related to multiple digits involvement in diabetic patients with trigger digits , but there is no relationship with age , sex , type of diabetes . although the trigger digits can be seen and similarly diagnosed in both normal and diabetic patients , natural history of the condition in diabetic patients and the outcome of treatment may not be the same . it is reported that the insulin - dependant cases usually have more sever symptoms and multiple digits involvement and require surgical release for relief of symptoms . the steroid injection might be used although it does not provide a good success rate ( about 30%).[1719 ] in addition to use of steroid injection , the use of nonsteroidal anti - inflammatory drugs can provide a little relief from the symptoms.[1719 ] the use of steroid injection ( either methylprednisolone acetate or triamcinolone acetonide ) is proved to be safe ; however , there is also a report showing that the use of steroid injection can result in hyperglycemia . in addition , the recurrent rate is very high in the diabetes type 1 cases . focusing in detail , for the surgical treatment , it is used in the severe cases.[172426 ] the recommended surgical technique is  surgical release of the first annular ( a1 ) pulley . the surgery might be a definitive treatment ( success rate up to 99% ) but the complications can be seen and the postsurgical physiotherapy is still required for a long time . of interest , a recent report indicated that diabetes was not a risk factor for trigger digits and postoperative complications of trigger digits surgery . however , closed observation and special care are still recommended for the cases with diabetes mellitus due to the risk for existence of microangiopathy . trigger digits is an important problem in diabetic patients , especially for the old ones . however , the cause  result relationship between diabetes mellitus and trigger digits is still the topic for further study . in management , glucose control is important and the standard managements for the general population can be effectively used for the diabetic cases .
the problem of finger in the patient with diabetes mellitus is important consideration in diabetology . 
 generally , peripheral neuropathy that manifests with finger paresthesia is common . 
 however , some recent reports mention the concern on trigger digits in diabetic patients . in this brief article , the authors focus review and discussion on this specific topic . 
 the searching of standard database , pubmed , on available publication on this area selecting by keywords trigger digits and diabetes mellitus was done and all derived papers were extracted and further synthesized in this review article . 
 epidemiology and management of the condition are the mainly focused reviewed areas and presented in this article .