ReviewCureus2025
Kinesio Taping®️ Plus Exercise Versus Sham Taping Plus Exercise and Exercise Alone for Lateral Epicondylitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.
Review in Cureus, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Lateral epicondylitis (LE), commonly known as tennis elbow, is a frequent overuse injury of the wrist extensor tendons that leads to pain, weakness, and impaired upper-limb function. Kinesio Taping®️ (KT) (Kinesio Holding Corporation, Albuquerque, USA) has been increasingly used as an adjunct to exercise therapy, but its clinical efficacy remains uncertain. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of KT combined with exercise compared with sham taping plus exercise and exercise alone in patients with lateral epicondylitis. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, a comprehensive search was conducted in PubMed, Google Scholar, Cochrane Library, ClinicalTrials.gov, and Semantic Scholar up to October 23, 2025. The review protocol was registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews [PROSPERO; ID: (CRD420251179581)]. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing KT plus exercise against sham taping or exercise alone were included. Data were pooled using a random-effects model, and results were expressed as mean differences (MD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Seven RCTs involving 271 participants were analyzed. KT combined with exercise significantly reduced pain compared with sham taping plus exercise (MD = -1.71; 95% CI: -3.31 to -0.10) and exercise alone (MD = -1.39; 95% CI: -2.63 to -0.14). Functional improvement assessed by the patient-rated tennis elbow evaluation (PRTEE) was also greater in the KT group for both comparisons (MD = -15.6 and -29.15, respectively). Grip strength improved by 3.96 kg (95% CI: 0.41-7.51) with KT plus exercise. In conclusion, KT used alongside exercise provides superior short-term improvements in pain, function, and grip strength compared with sham taping or exercise alone. Further standardized, long-term trials are warranted to confirm these findings.
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