Abstract
Background: Rectus abdominis diastasis (RAD) is an excessive divarication of the rectus abdominis muscle with concurrent stretching and thinning of the linea alba, which occurs due to mechanical and functional disturbances in the anterior abdominal wall and the whole body. The primary objective of this study is a palpation assessment of RAD in postpartum women before and after the application of KT tapes and a subsequent comparison of the results with those from a sham intervention group. Methods: A randomized clinical trial was conducted in the Physical Therapy Department at Wroclaw Medical University. The participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups: the KT group (intervention), in which KT tapes were applied (48 h intervention) and the sham KT group (control, sham intervention), in which non-stretch tapes were used (cloth surgical tape, 48 h intervention). In all participants, a palpation assessment of RAD was conducted and the inter-recti distance was measured using a digital caliper at three sites: at the umbilicus and 4.5 cm above and below it. Measurements were taken before and after the intervention. Results: The gathered results show a statistically significant reduction in rectus abdominis diastasis at each of the observed sites after the application of KT tapes in the intervention group (p < 0.05). In the intergroup comparison, a statistically significantly lower RAD (at umbilicus) was found after the intervention (p = 0.005) in KT group. Conclusions: the application of KT tapes using the corrective technique can contribute to reducing RAD in women up to 12 months after delivery.
Highlights
The most common symptom of Rectus abdominis diastasis (RAD) is bulging along the midline of the abdomen—which becomes more prominent while abdominal muscles contract—together with a visible depression in the linea alba [1,2,3,5]
Four women nosed rectus abdominis diastasis above 2 cm at were were excluded excluded from the study based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria: two women had other surgeries surgeriesin inthe theabdominal abdominalarea, area,one onewoman woman had 2 cm had previously had other had
The sham divideddivided into twointo groups comparison: the Kinesio taping (KT) group
Summary
Rectus abdominis diastasis (RAD) is an excessive divarication of the rectus abdominis muscle with concurrent stretching and thinning of the linea alba, which occurs due to mechanical and functional disturbances in the anterior abdominal wall and the whole body. RAD can affect both women and men of any age [3,4,5,6]. It is most often diagnosed in pregnant and postpartum women, due to the changes occurring in a woman’s body during pregnancy [1,7,8]. The most common symptom of RAD is (conical) bulging along the midline of the abdomen—which becomes more prominent while abdominal muscles contract—together with a visible depression in the linea alba [1,2,3,5]
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