Kinesiotaping in Isolated Meniscus Injuries

This study was designed as a randomized controlled trial. All patients presenting to the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation outpatient clinic with knee pain and meeting the inclusion criteria will be included in the study after being informed and giving their consent. Patients' age, gender, and body mass index will be recorded. Patients will be divided into three groups using stratified randomization. An attempt will be made to ensure a homogeneous distribution of patients in terms of gender, age, and body mass index. Group 1 will receive standard treatment, Group 2 will receive standard treatment + kinesiotaping, and Group 3 will receive standard treatment + sham taping. Standard treatment will consist of strengthening exercises for the quadriceps and hamstring muscles, stretching exercises around the knee, proprioceptive exercises, and activity modification. These exercises will be taught to the patient and they will be asked to perform them at home five days a week for three weeks. Kinesiotaping and sham taping will be applied three times, once every five days. Kinesiotaping will be applied to the group with a specific tension and technique (quadriceps facilitation technique, "Y" tape shape, applied with 25-50% tension), while the sham group will have the tape simply applied to the skin without any tension (perpendicular to the quadriceps muscle, tension-free). Kinesiotapes do not contain any medication; their effect depends on the technique (facilitation, inhibition, etc.) and tension level (10%, 25%, 50%, 75%). All patients will have VAS and WOMAC parameters evaluated before treatment, on day 20, and at month 3 after treatment.

• sham taping (Procedure): sham taping will be applied three times, once every five days. the sham group will have the tape simply applied to the skin without any tension (perpendicular to the quadriceps muscle, tension-free). Kinesiotapes do not contain any medication; their effect depends on the technique (facilitation, inhibition, etc.) and tension level (10%, 25%, 50%, 75%).
• Exercise (Behavioral): rengthening exercises for the quadriceps and hamstring muscles, stretching exercises around the knee, proprioceptive exercises, and activity modification.
• kinesiotaping (Procedure): Kinesiotaping will be applied three times, once every five days. Kinesiotaping will be applied to the group with a specific tension and technique (quadriceps facilitation technique, "Y" tape shape, applied with 25-50% tension). Kinesiotapes do not contain any medication; their effect depends on the technique (facilitation, inhibition, etc.) and tension level (10%, 25%, 50%, 75%).

Primary outcomes

• VAS [3 months]: The VAS (Visual Analog Scale) will be used to determine the severity of knee pain. The VAS is a reliable and easily applicable scale accepted worldwide in the literature for measuring the severity of pain in patients. The Visual Analog Scale is used to convert values that cannot be measured numerically into numerical values. It is a scale where the starting point is -0- "no pain" and the other end is -10- "very severe pain," with numerical values assigned to each centimeter (cm) in one-centimeter increments.
• WOMAC [3 months]: The Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) is a widely used, valid, and reliable index for evaluating patients with osteoarthritis. It is also very commonly used in knee problems other than osteoarthritis to assess knee pain and knee function. It is a recommended metric for osteoarthritis studies by the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology Clinical Trials (OMERACT). The WOMAC OA index, validated and proven reliable in Turkish by Tüzün et al., consists of three sections and 24 questions assessing pain, stiffness, and physical function. The maximum possible scores are 20 for the pain subgroup, 8 for stiffness, and 68 for physical function. Higher scores indicate increased pain and stiffness, and impaired physical function.

Sex: All, ages: 18 Years to 50 Years

Inclusion Criteria:

* Ages 18-50
* Knee pain lasting longer than 2 weeks
* Having a diagnosis of isolated meniscus injury (grade 1, 2 or 3 meniscus degeneration) confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
* Not having undergone knee surgery in the last 6 months
* Not having received intraarticular injections in the knee area
* Being willing to participate in the study

Exclusion Criteria:

* Trauma history
* Anterior or posterior cruciate ligament injury
* Collateral ligament injuries
* Advanced knee osteoarthritis
* Rheumatic or neurological disease
* Allergy or skin condition to kinesiotape
* History of intraarticular injection
* Neuromuscular dysfunction
* Rheumatological disease
* Cognitive dysfunction

• Randazzo E, Duerr R, Baria MR. Meniscus Root Tears: A Clinical Review. Curr Sports Med Rep. 2022 May 1;21(5):155-158. doi: 10.1249/JSR.0000000000000959. PMID 35522439
• Ahmed MM, Zaino M, Moustafa M, Alajam RA, Alameer AH, Morsy WE, Fayed EM, Malik S, Amin WM. Kinesio Taping Increases Peak Torque of Quadriceps Muscle After Arthroscopic Meniscectomy, Double-Blinded RCT. Int J Gen Med. 2024 May 6;17:1897-1908. doi: 10.2147/IJGM.S463753. eCollection 2024. PMID 38736667

• Nurten NAS KIRDAR, Assistant Professor, Principal investigator, Bandırma Onyedi Eylül University