1. Investigación

The aim of the present clinical trial is to evaluate the efficacy of kinesio taping on patients with chronic low back pain, when the exploration identifies skin/fascia mobilization as a factor that could modify the treatment effect. This study is a randomized controlled trial with intention-totreat analysis. Sixty-two participants with chronic low back pain were therefore recruited from a tertiary referral hospital. Targeted kinesio taping, according to skin/fascia mobility exploration, was applied in the experimental group (17 female/13 male; 49.47 ± 11.15 years) once a week for four sessions. The control group (17 female/14 male; 48.87 ± 9.09 years) underwent a placebo taping application. At post-treatment time there was a statistically significant reduction both in disability (Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire) and pain (Numeric Pain Rating Scale) in the experimental group (disability: −2.88, 95% confidence interval [CI] −4.56 to −1.21, P < .001; pain: −1.58, 95% CI −2.67 to −0.54 P = .001) and the control group (disability: −1.82, 95% CI −3.46 to −0.17 P = .025; pain: −1.30, 95% CI −2.32 to −0.28 P = .008). However, at six months, these changes only remained significant in the experimental group (disability: −2.95, 95% CI −4.72 to −1.18, P < .001; pain: −1.06, 95% CI −2.07 to −0.04, P < .05). As a conclusion, the application of targeted kinesio taping produced a significant reduction in pain and disability, at 4 weeks and at 6 moths follow-up, although there were no differences between groups at any measurement time point.

The presence of myofascial trigger points (MTrPs) is one of the most common causes of musculoskeletal problems and may lead to limited professional activity. Among the various treatment methods proposed for MTrPs, Kinesio Taping (KT) is a non-invasive, painless, and less time-consuming method with fewer side efects that has become widely used as a therapeutic tool in a variety of prevention and rehabilitation protocols. The aim of the study was to evaluate the immediate and short-term efcacy of the space correction KT technique in patients with latent or active MTrPs in the upper trapezius muscle. Two parallel randomized sham-controlled trials were simultaneously executed: in trial A, ninety-seven participants with latent MTrPs were randomly assigned to either the KT (n=51) or sham (n=46) group; in trial B, thirty-seven participants with active MTrPs were assigned to the KT (n=20) or sham (n=17) group. The primary outcome was pressure pain threshold (PPT) in the upper trapezius muscle, measured with algometry. Secondary outcomes included the active range of motion (ROM) of the cervical spine (lateral fexion and rotation), measured with a cervical ROM goniometer. In each trial, two-way ANOVA tests were used to compare the study efects on the outcome measures between the groups, with time serving as the intra-group factor (baseline, immediately, and 72h after the application) and the intervention type (KT and sham) as the between-group factor. At 72h, participants receiving KT did not show signifcant diferences in PPT (trial A: mean diference −1.8N; 95% CI: [−8.1, 4.4], trial B: mean diference −1.2N; 95% CI: [−7.4, 5.1]), cervical lateral fexion (trial A: mean diference 0.2 degrees; 95% CI: [−2.7, 3.1], trial B: mean diference −2.4 degrees; 95% CI: [−8.4, 3.6]), and cervical rotation (trial A: mean diference 3.7 degrees; 95% CI: [−0.1, 7.5], trial B: mean diference 1.4 degrees; 95% CI: [−5.7, 8.4]), compared to the sham groups. Thus, the results of this study do not support the use of the space correction KT technique to treat patients with latent or active myofascial trigger points in the upper trapezius muscle.