Objective: To investigate the changes and significance of nail fold microcirculation in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and its chronic complications. Methods: 103 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were taken as observation group in this study; and the 103 type 2 diabetes mellitus patients were further divided into diabetic retinopathy (DR) group and no DR (NDR) group, diabetic nephropathy (DN) group and no DN (NDN) group, diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) and no DPN (NDPN) group, peripheral arterial disease (PAD) group and no PAD (NPAD) group. 30 cases of healthy controls at the same term were taken as control group. The nail fold microcirculation of all the subjects were detected. Results: The nail fold microcirculation scores and total scores of type 2 diabetes mellitus patients were all obviously higher than healthy controls (P<0.01). The nail fold microcirculation scores and total scores of DR, DN, DPN, PAD patients were obviously higher than NDR, NDN, NDPN, NPAD patients respectively (P<0.01, P<0.05). Conclusions: There is a disturbance of nail fold microcirculation in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients, especially those complicated with DR, DN, DPN and PAD. In clinic, the nail fold microcirculation should be detected early, in order to better guide clinical prevention and teratment of type 2 diabetes mellitus and its chronic complications.