Kaplan Y.1
1Sport Medicine Institute of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
Background: The use of kinesiotape (KT) has become very common in recent years in treating musculoskeletal injuries Opinions vary about KT efficiency compared to other forms of taping and physiotherapy interventions.
Purpose: To present the level 1-4 evidence relating to the efficacy of kinesiotape vs. other forms of taping.
Methods: An Internet search was conducted using PubMed, Pedro, and Cochrane Library databases. Subject headings included ", kinesiotape and musculoskeletal injuries", Kinesiotape vs. taping", All searches were up in July, 2016
Results: 122 reviews and articles were found, of which 57 relevant studies were included in this review. Most studies show no statistically significant difference in the treatment of pain or range of motion in favor of KT versus placebo and other treatments.
Four systematic reviews showed some evidence in reducing pain in the short term (24 hr), but limited evidence in the long-term. There was no improvement in range of motion. There exists limited evidence of the effectiveness of KT in l over other tapes or other therapies.
Conclusion(s): Despite its widespread usage, the efficacy of KT is highly questionable in the treatment of musculoskeletal injuries.
Implications: There exists only partial evidence on short-term pain reduction, increased flexibility and improved electrical activity of muscle.
Funding acknowledgements: no funding
Topic: Sport & sports injuries
Ethics approval: none required
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
