The effect of kinesio taping on the trunk and lower limb function in children with cerebral palsy

Abstract

In cerebral palsy (CP), severe dysfunction of the posture and voluntary movement is caused, due to some damage to the brain during childhood, before it is even completely formed. For this reason, the physiotherapy approach is a demanding and time-consuming affair. The application of Kinesio Taping (KT), in combination with other physiotherapy interventions, helps in the function of the trunk and lower limbs in children with CP. The aim of this review of the literature is through recent studies to outline the effect of KT application on the function of the trunk and lower limbs in children with CP. The Google Scholar and PubMed databases were searched in English with the following keywords: Efficacy, Kinesio taping, gait, trunk, posture, cerebral palsy. The review included randomized clinical trials and pilot studies. Of the 10 articles that were included in this review, seven were randomized clinical trials and three were pilot studies. Discussion-Conclusions: The results show that the application of KT in children with CP has positive results in terms of increasing the function of the trunk and lower limbs. In most cases, in fact, it seemed that this happens not immediately after application, but shortly after its removal. Additionally, the combination of KT together with other physiotherapy interventions leads to even better results. More studies will be needed to further investigate its efficacy.