Effectiveness of Kinesio Taping and Night Splinting Along With Physical Therapy Intervention on Symptoms and Functionality: A Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial for Moderate Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

Objective: The aim of the study is to compare the effects of Kinesio taping and night splinting along with physical therapy intervention on symptoms in patients with moderate carpal tunnel syndrome undergoing rehabilitation.

Design: In this double-blind, randomized controlled trial, 45 patients with moderate carpal tunnel syndrome were included and randomly assigned to three groups: Kinesio taping group ( n = 15), night splinting group ( n = 15), and control group ( n = 15). All patients received 20 physical therapy intervention sessions. The primary outcome was self-reported disability status measured by the Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire, and secondary outcomes were pain and paresthesia (rest, activity, and night) measured by the Numeric Rating Scale. Outcomes were recorded at baseline and 4 wks.

Results: All patients showed clinically meaningful improvements for all outcome measures over time ( P < 0.05). The intergroup analysis revealed that the Kinesio taping group demonstrated better results in all measures than the night splinting ( P < 0.05) except for pain during activity ( P = 0.054), at night ( P = 0.191), and paresthesia at rest ( P = 0.575). In addition, the Kinesio taping group showed better outcomes than the control group ( P < 0.05) except for the activity pain ( P = 0.022). However, there were negligible differences between night splinting and control group ( P > 0.05).

Conclusion: Kinesio taping in combination with physical therapy intervention is more effective than night splinting in combination with physical therapy intervention or physical therapy intervention alone and may be recommended.