Does Kinesio taping in addition to exercise therapy improve the outcomes in subacromial impingement syndrome? A randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of Kinesio taping (KT) application added to the exercise treatment of subacromial impingement syndrome (SIS). METHODS Thirty-eight (25 female, 13 male) patients with SIS were randomly divided into therapeutic KT (n=19) and sham KT (n=19) groups. All patients received the same exercise therapy in addition to therapeutic or sham KT at 3-day intervals for 12 days. The groups were compared according to pain, range of motion (ROM), muscle strength and DASH and Constant scores before treatment and at the 5th and 12th treatment days. RESULTS Within group comparisons showed significant improvements in both groups at the 5th and 12th day evaluations (p<0.05). In comparisons between the groups, pain with movement and DASH scores in the therapeutic group were significantly lower at the 5th day (p<0.01). There were significant improvements in night pain, pain with movement, DASH score, shoulder external rotation muscle strength, and pain free shoulder abduction ROM in the therapeutic group at the 12th day (p<0.05). Passive shoulder flexion ROM increased more in the sham group at the 12th day (p<0.05). CONCLUSION The addition of KT application to the exercise program appears to be more effective than the exercise program alone for the treatment of SIS.