Effect of Knee Orthosis and Kinesio Taping on Clinical and Neuromuscular Outcomes in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Objectives: Impaired proprioception and muscle weakness may not only be a consequence of knee osteoarthritis (OA) but also part of its pathogenesis. Thus, the enhancement of quadriceps strength and proprioceptive accuracy can play a pivotal role in the management of knee OA. This study aimed to investigate the effects of Kinesio tape and flexible knee orthosis in terms of clinical and neuromuscular outcomes in patients with knee OA. Methods: This clinical trial was conducted on 56 patients with knee OA, randomly allocated to two groups: knee orthosis or Kinesio tape. The knee orthosis group wore a neoprene knee support for 4 weeks. For participants in the Kinesio tape group, tape was applied once a week, for 4 weeks. The primary outcomes were pain intensity and physical function evaluated through the visual analog scale and the Western Ontario and McMaster OA index. The secondary outcomes were concentric and isometric quadriceps strength, Joint Position Sense (JPS), Threshold to Detect Passive Motion (TTDPM), and force sense (FS), all measured by isokinetic dynamometry. Results: All outcome measures were significantly improved in the orthosis group. The Kinesio tape group also demonstrated significant changes in all outcome measures except three proprioception components namely JPS (70° target), FS, and TTDPM. At the end of the fourth week, there were no significant between-group differences for measured parameters. Conclusion: Wearing a flexible knee orthosis and/or Kinesio tape for 4 weeks significantly improved knee pain, physical function, and quadriceps strength. Although knee orthosis showed significant beneficial effects on various components of proprioception, there were no significant differences between the two groups at the end of the 4-week intervention.

Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials in Cervical Myofascial Pain Syndrome.

Cervical myofascial pain syndrome with dizziness (CMPS-D) has always faced the challenges of evaluation, diagnosis, and etiology. Vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs) are applicable to evaluate the functions of the vestibular system, especially the saccule. The Sound evoked triceps myogenic potentials (SETMPs) have different anatomical efferent connections from Sternocleidomastoid (SCM)-VEMPs. The present study aimed to evaluate the SETMPs and SCMVEMPs in CMPS-D group and compare the results with the control group. We tested 15 participants with CMPS-D with 15 participants in the control group using SCMVEMP and SETMP tests. All participants had normal hearing and vestibular functions. The SCMVEMP response was absent in 4 of 15 patients with CMPS-D, and the mean response CMPS-D group was significantly lower than the control group. There were the SETMP and SCMVEMP responses in all participants in the control group. In CMPS-D subjects with false absent SCMVEMP response, SETMP tests are suitable alternatives for the saccule evaluation, and diminished SCMVEMP in the CMPS-D subjects may not necessarily mean the saccular injury. Furthermore, the involvement of spinal cord pathways is not a cause of dizziness in CMPS-D patients.