The effect of kinesio taping to clinical and functional results after botulinum toxin injection in patients with cerebral palsy

Introduction: The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the effect of kinesio taping on clinical and functional results in patients with Cerebral Palsy (CP) who received botulinum toxin-A (BTX-A) injection. Material and Methods: Thirty-two patients diagnosed with CP, aged 2-18 years, who applied to the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation outpatient clinic of Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Medicine were included. The patients were randomly divided into the study (Group A, n=10) and control (Group B, n=22) groups. The patients in both groups were evaluated before botulinum toxin application (week 0). Kinesio taping was performed 4 times in total, immediately after the BTX-A injection, in the first, second, and third week, for group A, and the home exercise program and physical therapy were continued, as the group B. The passive ankle dorsiflexion joint range of motion (ROM) measurement with the knee flexed and extended, Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS), Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS), Modified Tardieu Scale (MTS), Observational Gait Scale (OGS), Selective Motor Control (SMC) and 10-meter walking tests were used to evaluate the clinical and functional status of all the patients before BTX-A injection (week 0), and 2, 4, and 12 weeks after BTX-A injection. Results: 32 patients, 18 male and 14 female, were included in the study. 17 patients (53.1%) were diagnosed with hemiplegic type CP and the mean age was 5.50 years. According to repeated measurements within the two groups who received botulinum toxin, a positive significant difference was found in MTS R1, R2, and R2-R1 angles, SMC test, OGS, passive ankle dorsiflexion ROMs with the knee flexed and extended, and MAS stages, while there was no significant difference in the 10-meter walking test. When the difference between the groups in repeated measurements was assessed, there was no statistically significant difference between these clinical parameters of the two groups. Conclusion: BTX-A injections for the lower extremity muscles in patients with CP have been shown to have positive effects on spasticity, passive ankle angles, and gait functions. It was observed that kinesio taping performed after the BTX-A injection did not contribute to the clinical status and functional results of the patients. The beneficial effects of kinesio taping in the rehabilitation of CP have been shown in the literature. However, there is a need for more comprehensive randomized studies with a large number of patients in order to evaluate the effects of the current kinesio taping therapy, which frequency is increasing today. Key Words: Cerebral Palsy, Botulinum Toxin, Kinesio Taping, Spasticity