Does Kinesiology Taping Improve the Early Postoperative Outcomes in Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction? A Randomized Controlled Study.

OBJECTIVE

The efficacy of kinesiology taping in arthroscopic knee surgery has not been reported. The objective of this study is to investigate the efficacy of kinesiology taping in the early postoperative phase after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). We hypothesized that kinesiology taping reduces knee pain and swelling and improves knee range of movement and functional outcome.

DESIGN

Randomized controlled study.

SETTING

Primary Institutional Hospital.

PATIENTS

Sixty subjects who underwent an elective ACLR with or without concurrent meniscectomy were randomized into intervention (with kinesiology taping postsurgery) and control groups.

INTERVENTIONS

Subjects from both groups received standardized postoperative physiotherapy. Subjects from the intervention group received additional kinesiology taping on the first and second weeks postsurgery, each application lasting 5 days.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Pain visual analogue score (VAS), total range of motion (ROM) of the knee, Lysholm-Tegner scale, and mid patella circumferential girth were measured before the surgery and at the first, second, and sixth week postsurgery.

RESULTS

Within each group, statistically significant differences were found in all study parameters in both groups. Comparison of the study parameters between both groups revealed no statistical significance at various time points except the reduction of pain in the taping group in the early postoperative phase (between the first and second week) (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

This is the first randomized controlled study investigating the efficacy of kinesiology taping in arthroscopic knee surgery. Our study showed that kinesiology taping reduced pain in the early postoperative period after ACLR. There was no statistical significance in the reduction of swelling or improvement of knee score and total range of motion with kinesiology taping.