Systematic Review on Effectiveness of shoulder taping in Hemiplegia

Shoulder pain and subluxation are the commonly encountered problems among subjects with hemiplegia. Rehabilitating the shoulder following stroke is a challenging task among physiotherapists in rehabilitation set up. There is a need to validate the effectiveness of externally applied taping materials in hemiplegic shoulder.

This systematic review analyses the efficacy of taping on hemiplegic shoulder in terms of alleviating pain and managing subluxation.

Systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted to determine the effects of taping on hemiplegic shoulder. Articles were electronically searched from the year 2000 to 2017 in the 4 databases, Google scholar, CINAHL, Pubmed, and Pedro. Reviewers graded the papers according to Lloyd-Smith's hierarchy of evidence scale. Papers were quality appraised using a systematic review of RCT tool developed by National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (United States), named as quality assessment of controlled intervention studies tool.

Eight papers were included, totaling 132 participants. All the RCT's included in this review were good quality. There was a significant effect on taping method for reduction of pain and subluxation among subjects with stroke.

This systematic review provides sufficient evidence to suggest taping is a beneficial method for reducing pain and shoulder subluxation among stroke subjects.