RESEARCH - Patellar taping relieves chronic knee pain

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Patellar Taping Relieves Chronic Knee Pain

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Apr 01 - Patellar taping, and possibly

patellar bracing, relieves chronic knee pain, according to a report in

the January 15th issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism.

" Simple, conservative, non-pharmacological treatments may be very

useful to reduce chronic knee pain in younger and older adults and

should be considered when planning treatments for these groups, " Dr.

Stuart J. Warden from Indiana University, Indianapolis, told Reuters

Health.

Dr. Warden and colleagues undertook a systematic review and

meta-analysis to evaluate the evidence for patellar taping and bracing

in the management of chronic knee pain. Sixteen eligible trials were

identified.

Medially-directed patellar taping significantly decreased reported

knee pain compared with no tape and with sham tape, the investigators

report.

For patients with anterior knee pain, medially-directed tape improved

pain over no tape (p < 0.001), but there was no significant difference

between medially-directed tape and sham tape. In fact, in six studies,

sham tape significantly decreased reported pain compared with no tape,

Dr. Warden and colleagues note.

They found that the evidence for benefit with patellar bracing was

less robust. Medially-directed brace decreased reported anterior knee

pain compared with no brace but did not differ from sham brace, the

investigators say. Sham brace did not differ from no brace in two

studies that compared them.

" I prefer patellar taping over bracing, " Dr. Warden said. " This is

primarily due to the fact that there is much more evidence for taping

than bracing, but also because personally I find taping to produce

better clinical results in terms of reductions in pain than patellar

bracing. I find that patients are more active in their rehabilitation

with taping than with bracing. "

Dr. Warden added, " When deciding the most appropriate taping technique

for an individual patient remember that: (1) sham (fake) taping

results in a significant reduction in symptoms compared to no tape,

suggesting that any tape is better than no tape; and (2) after

applying patellar tape there should be immediate reduction in the

patients' symptoms during a task that aggravates them (such as a squat

or stair ascent/descent); if this is not the case, the tape should be

removed and applied in a different direction, or the use of taping be

reconsidered. "

Dr. Warden said he and his colleagues are currently performing a

number of studies investigating the effects of patellar taping on

chronic knee pain. " In addition to these studies, I would like to see

well-designed studies investigating the relative benefits of patellar

taping and bracing for chronic knee pain. "

Arthritis Rheum 2008;59:73-83.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/572356

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