Patellar taping: a radiographic examination of the medial glide technique

The purpose of this study was to radiographically determine the effectiveness of the McConnell medial glide patellar taping technique. Twenty apparently healthy men, between ages 18 and 35, participated in this study. Subjects underwent a series of three radiographs in a modified Merchant view. First, a bilateral tangential view of the patellofemoral joints was taken to establish a baseline. Next, the same view was obtained with the experimental knees taped using the McConnell medial glide technique. Subjects then underwent a standardized exercise protocol to stress the tape and the accompanying knee structures. This was followed by a third view of the patellofemoral joints. Radiographs were measured using the Merchant congruence angle and analyzed statistically with dependent, mean difference tests. Results from this study indicate that the McConnell medial glide technique was effective in significantly moving the patella medially (P = 0.003), but that the tape was ineffective in maintaining this significance after exercise (P < 0.001). In 3 subjects (15%) of this sample, the tape was ineffective in moving the patella medially in any degree. One interesting finding was that exercise caused a statistically significant (P = 0.016) lateral shift from baseline in the control knees. This may suggest some clinical significance for patellar taping in preventing excessive lateral shift.