Sports Performance Research Institute New Zealand, School of Sport and Recreation, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand.
Sports Med. 2012 Feb 1;42(2):153-64. doi: 10.2165/11594960-000000000-00000.
Kinesio tape (KT) is an elastic therapeutic tape used for treating sports injuries and a variety of other disorders. Chiropractor, Dr Kenso Kase, developed KT taping techniques in the 1970s. It is claimed that KT supports injured muscles and joints and helps relieve pain by lifting the skin and allowing improved blood and lymph flow. The profile of KT rose after the tape was donated to 58 countries for use during the 2008 Olympic Games, and was seen on high-profile athletes. Practitioners are asking whether they should use KT over other elastic adhesive tapes. The aim of this review was to evaluate, using meta-analysis, the effectiveness of KT in the treatment and prevention of sports injuries. Electronic databases including SPORTDiscus, Scopus, MEDLINE, ScienceDirect and sports medicine websites were searched using keywords 'kinesio taping/tape'. From 97 articles, ten met the inclusion criteria (article reported data for effect of KT on a musculoskeletal outcome and had a control group) and were retained for meta-analyses. Magnitude-based inferences were used to assess clinical worth of positive outcomes reported in studies. Only two studies investigated sports-related injuries (shoulder impingement), and just one of these involved injured athletes. Studies attending to musculoskeletal outcomes in healthy participants were included on the basis that these outcomes may have implications for the prevention of sporting injuries. The efficacy of KT in pain relief was trivial given there were no clinically important results. There were inconsistent range-of-motion outcome results, with at least small beneficial results seen in two studies, but trivial results in two other studies across numerous joint measurements. There was a likely beneficial effect for proprioception regarding grip force sense error, but no positive outcome for ankle proprioception. Seven outcomes relating to strength were beneficial, although there were numerous trivial findings for quadriceps and hamstrings peak torque, and grip strength measures. KT had some substantial effects on muscle activity, but it was unclear whether these changes were beneficial or harmful. In conclusion, there was little quality evidence to support the use of KT over other types of elastic taping in the management or prevention of sports injuries. KT may have a small beneficial role in improving strength, range of motion in certain injured cohorts and force sense error compared with other tapes, but further studies are needed to confirm these findings. The amount of case study and anecdotal support for KT warrants well designed experimental research, particularly pertaining to sporting injuries, so that practitioners can be confident that KT is beneficial for their athletes.
肌内效贴布（KT）是一种弹性治疗贴布，用于治疗运动损伤和各种其他疾病。整脊医师 Kenso Kase 博士在 20 世纪 70 年代开发了 KT 贴扎技术。据称，KT 通过提起皮肤并促进血液和淋巴液流动，从而支撑受伤的肌肉和关节并帮助缓解疼痛。在 2008 年奥运会期间，这种贴布被捐赠给 58 个国家使用，随后 KT 的知名度提高，在知名运动员身上也能看到它的身影。从业者们开始质疑他们是否应该使用 KT 而不是其他弹性胶带。本综述的目的是通过荟萃分析评估 KT 在运动损伤的治疗和预防中的有效性。使用关键字“肌内效贴布/贴布”，在 SPORTDiscus、Scopus、MEDLINE、ScienceDirect 和运动医学网站等电子数据库中进行了搜索。从 97 篇文章中，有 10 篇符合纳入标准（文章报告了 KT 对肌肉骨骼结果的影响数据，并设有对照组），并被保留进行荟萃分析。基于幅度的推断用于评估研究中报告的阳性结果的临床价值。只有两项研究调查了与运动相关的损伤（肩撞击），其中只有一项涉及受伤的运动员。基于这些结果可能对预防运动损伤有影响，对健康参与者的肌肉骨骼结果进行了研究。KT 在缓解疼痛方面的效果微不足道，因为没有临床重要的结果。运动范围的结果不一致，在两项研究中至少看到了较小的有益结果，但在另外两项研究中对多个关节测量结果均为微不足道。在握力感觉错误方面，本体感觉可能有有益的效果，但在踝关节本体感觉方面没有阳性结果。有 7 项与力量相关的结果是有益的，尽管在股四头肌和腘绳肌峰值扭矩以及握力测量方面有许多微不足道的发现。KT 对肌肉活动有一些实质性的影响，但尚不清楚这些变化是有益还是有害。总之，几乎没有高质量的证据支持在运动损伤的管理或预防中使用 KT 代替其他类型的弹性胶带。与其他胶带相比，KT 在改善某些受伤患者群体的力量、运动范围和力量感错误方面可能有较小的有益作用，但需要进一步的研究来证实这些发现。对 KT 的案例研究和轶事支持的数量证明需要进行精心设计的实验研究，特别是关于运动损伤的研究，以便从业者能够确信 KT 对他们的运动员有益。
