Effects of kinesio taping in patients undergoing knee or hip arthroplasty: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Only 2 of the 11 trials were rated as at low risk of bias; the other 9 raised 'some concern', and in 4 trials neither the patients nor the people treating them were blinded, so everyone knew who was taped. Most trials did not use a placebo tape (tape applied without tension), so any effect of the tape cannot be separated from the expectation of being taped. The trials used quite different taping methods, shapes and durations, and for pain the results disagreed enough between trials that the authors had to use a random-effects model. There were only 11 trials and they were small, 27 to 125 participants each; the hip replacement answer comes from just 2 of them. Rehabilitation content and medication use varied across trials, so what counted as 'usual rehab' was not the same everywhere, which limits how well the pooled result travels. The search covered only English and Chinese publications, so relevant trials in other languages may have been missed. Swelling was measured with a tape measure around the limb, which is open to human error. The trials did not report which painkillers patients were taking, and that could have changed the pain results. The pooled pain result showed publication bias, which usually means positive findings were more likely to be published than negative ones.

The authors state that they have no conflicts of interest to declare. The work was funded by the Chongqing City Science and Health Joint Project (grant number 2024GDRC001). The paper does not say whether the funder had any role in the design, conduct or writing of the review.

Do not take this as evidence that taping alone helps, or that it should become routine after joint replacement. In every trial the tape was added on top of a rehabilitation programme that both groups received, the trials were small and mostly unblinded, the pooled pain result varied a lot between trials, and it showed clear publication bias (Egger's p = 0.001). After hip replacement the tape made no difference to pain at all.