Effects of patellar taping on knee pain, functional disability, and patellar alignments in patients with patellofemoral pain syndrome: A randomized clinical trial

Abstract

Question: What are the effects of patellar taping on pain, functional disability and patellar alignments in Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS)?

Design: Double-blind randomized clinical trial.

Participants: Thirty PFPS Patients were randomly divided into two groups, intervention and control.

Intervention: Patients in control group received only the routine physiotherapy. In addition to routine physiotherapy, patellar taping was used in the intervention group. Each patient was treated for 12 sessions over a period of 4 weeks.

Outcome measures: The KOOS and VAS questionnaires were used to assess the quality of life (QOL) and pain intensity, respectively. Three components of patellar alignment including Patellofemoral Congruence Angle (PFCA), Lateral Patellofemoral Angle (LPFA) and Lateral Patellar Displacement (LPD) were evaluated using the skyline radiography method.

Results: The results indicated that there was no significant difference between the control and intervention groups for LPD (P = 0.586), PFCA (P = 0.704) and LPFA (P = 0.176) variables. No significant difference was found between the two groups in all items of the KOOS questionnaire. The knee pain intensity was significantly reduced in both the intervention (P < 0.001) and control (P = 0.001) groups at the end of the 4th week.

Conclusion: The results of the present study indicated that patellar taping compared to routine physiotherapy treatments had no beneficial effects on pain reduction, QOL improvement and correction of patellar alignment in PSPS patients.

Trial registration: IRCT201111012851N2.

Keywords: Knee pain; PFPS; Patellar alignment; Patellar taping.