A review of the efficacy of Kinesio taping in carpal tunnel syndrome

Abstract

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is one of the most common peripheral neuropathy syndromes. Early intervention through physiotherapy with as many means as possible helps reduce symptoms, speeds recovery and prevents surgery as a last resort to manage CTS. The aim of this review is to investigate the efficacy of the use of Kinesio Tape (KT) in patients with CTS as the sole treatment or in combination with other physiotherapy techniques. Method: The Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus and PEDro databases were searched with the following keywords: Carpal tunnel syndrome, kinesio tape, physiotherapy, rehabilitation. Both clinical studies and systematic reviews were included in the review. Results: Eventually, 10 articles were included, of which nine were clinical studies and one was a systematic review. Discussion-Conclusions: The majority of the articles included in this review report that the use of KT provides positive results regarding the reduction of pain, the increase of the space inside the carpal tunnel and the functioning of the upper limb. Some research comes to this conclusion using only KT and others in combination with different physiotherapy interventions. In general, the use of KT is encouraged by these studies, but the need for further research study to establish a treatment protocol on application manner and frequency and its combination with other interventions is emphasized.