Evaluation of Effectiveness of Kinesiology Taping as an Adjunct to Rehabilitation Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction. Preliminary Report

Abstract

BACKGROUND. Kinesiology Taping (KT) is being increasingly more often used in musculoskeletal rehabilitation. The aim of the study was to assess the effect of Kinesiology Taping on rehabilitation outcomes in patients following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. MATERIALS AND METHODS. The study enrolled 26 patients (16 women and 10 men) aged between 20 and 41 years. The patients were randomly divided into two groups: an experimental group (Group 1), which received Kinesiology Taping, and a control group (Group 2), which followed the same rehabilitation protocol except for KT. Student's t test with a minimum significance level at p<0.05 was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS. All participants demonstrated a significant improvement in the range of knee flexion and extension in the affected limb as soon as the end of the first week of rehabilitation (p˂0.001). This tendency persisted in the following weeks until Day 28. Thigh measurements revealed a faster increase in thigh circumference in Group 1. Significant swelling reduction was found among patients from the experimental group at all consecutive measurements. The greatest difference (p<0.001) was noted at the beginning of the rehabilitation. After 28 days of rehabilitation, pain intensity and pain frequency had significantly decreased in all patients (p<0.001). Patients from the control group used analgesics significantly more often. CONCLUSIONS. 1. The use of KT contributed to a faster improvement of the range of knee motion, reduction of oedema and greater improvement in thigh circumference. 2. A similar reduction in pain intensity was observed in all patients. However, pain significantly less often forced patients from the experimental group to use analgesics or reduced their activity.

Kinesiotaping for postoperative oedema – what is the evidence? A systematic review

“…For the study by Bialoszewski et al [12], we made use of the p-values of a paired t-test comparing follow-up values with baseline values. For the study of Boguszewski et al [13], we could not find sufficient information to compute confidence intervals. For the study by Balki et al [14], the authors provide the mean and standard deviation values on our request.…”

“…The trial could not be included in the review since detailed data were not available upon request from the author. An evaluation of the effectiveness was hampered be the fact that only three studies [11,13,22] involved an active comparator, two of them a pneumatic compression system and one manual lymphatic drainage. The study by Bialoszewski et al [12] as the only one comparing kinesiotaping to manual lymphatic drainage as current gold standard suffers from methodologic flaws and lacks a description of the patient population or a comparison of the two groups.…”

Effects of kinesio taping on the gait parameters of children with cerebral palsy: a pilot study

“…Chinn et al [18] and Deschamps et al [19] reported that taping applied to patients with chronic ankle instability significantly improved stability of the ankle joint and gait. According to Boguszewski et al [20], taping applied to healthy adults significantly augmented the activation and strength of lower-extremity muscles. Furthermore, Ekiz et al [15] and Kim et al [12] found an increase in walking speed after taping of stroke patients in a 10-meter walking test.…”

Evaluation of effectiveness of kinesiotaping in supporting of rehabilitation of patients after meniscus injury. Preliminary report

“…Findings showed the diminution of the surgical swelling, and also of the need of pharmacological resources -the analgesic effect was obtained. 22 Kinesiotaping was successfully applied at persons struggling with the chronic pain, whether patients with neurological diseases or of rheumatologic ones. Most often the analgesic and anti-oedematous properties of elastic tapes were emphasized.…”