Presently there is a battle in attempt to find measures to prevent persistent post-operative pain. Persistent pains after chest surgery can approach up to 50%. Post-operative, Kinesiology Taping (KT) was done over three areas: at the chest access site pain trigger point; over the ipsilateral deltoid/trapezius; and lower anterior chest. In control group 30 day persistent pain was 30% versus only 7% in the KT group.
Chest pain control with kinesiology taping after lobectomy for lung cancer: initial results of a randomized placebo-controlled study
Andrea Imperatoria et al
Interactive CardioVascular and Thoracic Surgery (2016) 1–8 in press
http://icvts.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/04/28/icvts.ivw110.full
- randomized – 46 in control and treated groups
Taping:
- specially designed elastic tape, put on to reduce skin stretching and hence “modify the underlying soft tissue spaces and achieve therapeutic effects”. It is thought to facilitate healing and reduce inflammation while offering support and stability to muscles and joints.
- By drawing skin together, it reduces tension on tissues, “targeting somatosensory receptors”, and improves lymphatic drainage.
- KT used – Kinesio® Tex Gold™ (Kinesio Holding Corporation, Albuquerque, NM, USA) – 100% cotton, latex-free, elastic tape, 5-cm wide
- open thoracotomy or video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) access
- placebo and kt taping put on on day one and removed day 10
- At 30 days average pain in kt group was 0; in placebo was 1 (p=0.03)
- “rate of patients with moderate/severe chest pain (VAS ≥3) at 30
days after lobectomy (7 vs 24%; P = 0.03)”(KT vs control)
Comment – looks like a possibility for post operative persistent pain prevention; would like to see it for breast cancer cases.