Kinesiotaping for isolated rib fractures in emergency department

Abstract

Introduction: Rib fractures, which are among the most common injuries in blunt thoracic trauma, are usually encountered in Emergency Departments. Kinesiotape (KT) is a drug-free elastic therapeutic tape used for treating various musculoskeletal problems such as injury, dysfunction and pain. We aimed to investigate whether kinesotaping should be used safely and effectively in rib fractures in emergency setting.

Materials and methods: This was a prospective, randomized controlled study conducted in an Emergency Department of a University Hospital. Patients diagnosed with isolated rib fractures were included in the study. Pain severity of patients assessed with 0-10 cm visual analog scale (VAS), then patients assigned into 2 treatment groups. One of them received treatment with flurbiprofen 200 mg/day and the other group received kinesiotaping in addition to the same oral therapy. On the 4th day of the procedure, both groups were assessed with VAS in the followup visit.

Results: Total of 82 patients presented with rib fractures, 52 of them were excluded. Remaining 30 constituted the study group and randomly allocated to kinesiotaping (n = 16) or control group (n = 14). In both groups, pain intensity on the 4th day was significantly reduced when compared with baseline (p for both<0.01). Additionally, considering the reducing the pain intensity on 4th day, kinesiotaping was significantly superior than the control group (p < 0.01).

Conclusion: This study investigated the use of kinesiotaping in emergency departments. When compared to NSAID therapy alone, combined kinesiotaping and NSAID therapy appears to be more effective in terms of pain reduction in rib fractures.