Effect of Kinesio® Taping in Total Knee Replacement Surgery

Total knee replacement, which is the gold standard surgical treatment method applied in today's conditions, in order to maintain the patient's daily life without pain, to provide the knee joint range of motion, to eliminate the deformity and instability in the knee joint in advanced stage (Stage 3-4) knee osteoarthritis (OA) that does not benefit from conservative treatment. Obtaining the best clinical outcome for the patient after surgery is only possible with the implementation of post-surgical physical therapy and rehabilitation programs. Edema and pain occurring in the early post-surgical period prevent patients from moving freely, and as a result, the psychological state of the patients is also affected. With effective physiotherapy, besides relieving pain and edema, patients' sensorimotor performances, proprioceptive senses and body balances are restored, and thus the brain is taught how to maintain joint functions. For this reason, new physiotherapy methods are being developed every day for this purpose. "Kinesio Taping" (KT) is one of the modern physiotherapy methods that has been widely used in sports orthopedics in recent years. It was developed by Kenzo Kase in 1973 and is used clinically to relieve pain and edema, and to increase motor function in musculoskeletal diseases. In this method, an adhesive cotton-based tape called kinesio tape is used. The elastic structure of this band, which allows it to extend 130-140% of its original length, similar to the skin, together with its three-dimensional "fingerprint" texture specific to the band, causes the formation of microfolds on the skin. The formation of these folds; It is known that it increases the proprioceptive perception of the related joint by stimulating skin mechanoreceptors. It also reduces the pressure under the skin and helps relieve pain by increasing lymphatic drainage. The Epidermis-Dermis-Fascia (EDF) taping method is a KB method that has been developed in recent years. It provides less tension and is more easily applied to painful areas. The narrow strips of the applied tape provide more stimulation in the most superficial tissues5. Although studies on the effect of other application methods on rehabilitation after knee replacement surgery are available in the literature, there is no study in the literature showing the effects of the EDF technique. In this study, it is aimed to evaluate the effect of KT applied with EDF technique on clinical results in the early postoperative period in patients who have undergone total knee replacement surgery. The hypothesis of this study is; It was determined that "pain and edema decrease and functional gain increases in patients who underwent KT after total knee prosthesis surgery".