MRI analyses in the lower LEG to assess mechanical effects of drop foot taping applied over M.tibialis anterior

Abstract

Kinesio Taping (KT) is used by physiotherapists e.g., to reduce adhesions in the fascia. Leading to disorganization of connective tissue after trauma, underlying muscle tissue may not function optimally and the circulation in the area gets disrupted. When there is inefficient circulation, the connective tissue network gets denser, creating even more adhesions. To increase the blood circulation and muscle performance, and to decrease pain that may occur after injuries, KT is used during treatment. Numerous studies assessed the effects of KT over pain, range of motion(ROM) and muscle function. However, the mechanical effects of KT applications remain unclear. The present study assesses the mechanical effects of KT in the lower leg of healthy subjects. Drop foot correction is used as a KT application for such testing. The results show that, KT application over the tibialis anterior muscle (TA) causes sizeable and heterogeneous tissue deformations within not only the target but also within all muscles of the lower leg: up to 38.7% lengthening and 26% shortening in the TA, 21% lengthening and 14.2% shortening in mm. peronei, 15.9% lengthening and 16.9% shortening in the deep flexor muscles, 24.7% lengthening and 20.3% shortening in the m. soleus, and 24.9% lengthening and 20.3% shortening in the m. gastrocnemius. It was concluded that, KT plays a major role on the fascia network such that all the tissues starting from the epidermis to individual muscles and intermuscular connective tissue units are utilized to transmit the externally imposed mechanical loading leading to variable local mechanical effects. Although this experiment was conducted in passive conditions, KT application over the TA caused considerably high tissue deformations within the entire lower leg. These findings are very important for physiotherapists to explain the mechanism of effects and limits of such therapeutic mechanical loading applied externally over the epidermis.|Keywords : Kinesiotape, MRI analyses, tissue deformations.