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Updated: Sep 8, 2025
Author Spotlight: Enhancing Upper Limb Rehabilitation in Stroke Patients Through Advanced Robotic and Neuromodulation Technologies
Published on: October 11, 2024
Effect of kinesiotaping on pain relief and upper limb function in stroke survivors: a systematic review and
Botao Tan1, Gongwei Jia1, Yunling Song1
1Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University Chongqing, China.
Objectives:
To explore the effects of kinesiotaping in the treatment of shoulder pain and upper limb function in stroke survivors.
Methods:
PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were electronically and manually searched to identify relevant publications from inception to March 1, 2022. Full-text qualitative studies that explored the effects of kinesiotaping on hemiplegic shoulder pain and poststroke upper limb spasticity were included in the analysis. Data synthesis with a thematic approach was performed to generate descriptive and analytical themes.
Results:
Nine randomized controlled trials with 253 participants were included. The meta-analysis showed that kinesiotaping significantly reduced poststroke shoulder pain (mean difference (MD) = -1.59, 95% confidence interval (CI): -3.21 to -0.02, P = 0.05), enhanced range of motion (ROM) (MD = 7.00, 95% CI: 2.3 to 11.7, P = 0.004), reduced Modified Ashworth scale (MAS) scores (MD = -0.26, 95% CI: -0.51 to -0.01, P = 0.04), and decreased the magnitude of shoulder subluxation (MD = -0.42, 95% CI: -0.76 to -0.08, P = 0.02). However, outcomes, such as the Fugl-Meyer score and Barthel index, did not differ between the kinesiotaping and control groups.
Conclusions:
Kinesiotaping effectively relieved shoulder pain, improved upper limb spasticity and ROM, and reduced shoulder subluxation in stroke survivors. However, the effects of kinesiotaping on upper limb function in terms of FMA-UE scores and independence in activities of daily living were not verified. High-quality RCTs designed with large sample sizes are still required in the future.
