KINESIO TAPING AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO MULTILAYERED BANDAGE IN THE TREATMENT OF POSTMASTECTOMY LYMPHEDEMA: SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Abstract

 Introduction: Up to 40 % of the patients undergo breast cancer surgery suffer or have suffered secondary lymphedema. The deterioration of the functionality and its effect on the activities of daily living (AVD) make the studies necessary to provide a better quality of life and a more effective treatment. Objective: To evaluate the possible effectiveness in the application of the Kinesio taping as an alternative to the multilayered bandage in the treatment of the secondary lymphedema in breast cancer patients. Material and method: The following databases were searched: PubMed, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Cochrane, Scopus and PEDro including only clinical controlled trials in English, French and Spanish and those studies that were not treating the effectiveness of the Kinesio taping as a specific form in replacement of multilayered bandage were excluded. Results: A total of 132 studies were found in the consulted databases. Five randomized clinical trials were included in this review, after checking the inclusion criteria. Used protocols, the criteria of patients' inclusion and exclusion, the type of design of its studies, the methods of evaluation used, the interventions carried out and the results obtained were analyzed. Conclusions: There is currently no evidence of the possible replacement of the multilayered bandage for Kinesio taping due to the disparity of conclusions that we extracted from the clinical trials analyzed. It is suggested to carry out more exhaustive studies that would allow to verify its possible replacement.