Immediate effects of Kinesio taping in carpal tunnel syndrome: A randomized controlled double-blind ultrasonographic study.

BACKGROUND: The effects of Kinesio taping (KT) in carpal tunnel syndrome are controversial.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to examine whether KT has any effect on the skin, subcutaneous tissue, and median nerve measurements and to compare the effects of two different KT applications.

STUDY DESIGN: This is a prospective, double-blinded, randomized trial. This study was prospectively registered on the clinicaltrials.gov (NCT05475197). A total of 34 wrists (21 patients) who were clinically and electrophysiologically diagnosed with mild/moderate carpal tunnel syndrome were randomly divided into two KT intervention groups (group 1: neural technique and area correction technique and group 2: area correction technique).

METHODS: At baseline and immediately after the removal of KT (48 hours), pain was assessed with visual analog scale, hand grip strength with a hand-held dynamometer, and pinch strength using a pinch meter. Likewise, using ultrasound, skin and subcutaneous tissue thicknesses, median nerve cross-sectional area and flattening ratio, as well as median nerve depth were measured at the carpal tunnel inlet and outlet levels.

RESULTS: While there was significant improvement in the pain scores (compared to the baseline) immediately after the KT in both groups (group 1: p = 0.03, ηp 2 = 0.44; group 2: p < 0.001, ηp 2 = 0.71), there was no difference in between (p = 0.07, ηp 2 = 0.10). Grip strength significantly increased only in group 2 (p = 0.01, ηp 2 = 0.35). None of the sonographic measurements displayed significant difference either within or between groups at baseline and after KT (all p > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: While pain scores improved after KT, they were not coupled with any morphologic changes assessed by ultrasound.