Role of offload taping for total knee arthroplasty: A clinical educative pearl for physiotherapists

Abstract

This article intends to utilize offload rigid taping as an adjunct to pain management after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). TKA is a common orthopedic surgery. A dramatic rise in TKA surgeries is foreseen as TKA surgeries are projected to take place with an increasing rate of younger TKA recipients under 60 years of age. Approximately 40% of surgical patients usually experience severe to acute postoperative pain after TKA. A study by Scott F. Dye et al. suggests that most knee pain does not arise from the degenerated articular cartilage in osteoarthritic patients. Rather, the anterior fat pad is the main culprit behind the nociceptive stimuli. As an experimental clinical trial, offload taping was administered on the 2nd postoperative day after TKA to understand its effect on pain scores using the visual analog scale. It was found that the administration of offload taping resulted in a significant reduction in acute pain at rest and during ambulation in such patients.