Effect of Kinesiotaping on Ankle Stability
Condition: Sprain and Strain of Ankle
MeSH terms: Sprains and Strains
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Ankles sprains are the most popular injuries in basketball players. They are traumatic
      injuries, which happen most of the time in specific situations, like landing on another
      player's foot, or during changes of direction.

      Neuromuscular exercises are very important to improve ankle stability and reduce risks of
      sprains. However various external support such as ankles braces and rigid tape, are also used
      in order to prevent injury.

      The kinesiotape (KT) is a new but broadly used method in the world of athletes. Created by
      KenzoKase, in 1980, this kind of tape has a tremendous success with athletes and is today
      commonly used during practices and/or competitions. The main property of this tape is its
      elasticity, which is supposed to improve proprioception and, thus ankle stability, but these
      aspects have not been investigated yet.
    

Detailed description: 
      Aim: Compare the effects of a kinesiotape (KT) with a sham treatment (KT put with no effects)
      and a control condition (absence of tape) in basketball players from the Swiss national
      league through balance tests on an unstable surface.

      Hypotheses: A KT positioned on the lateral side of the leg improves ankle stability in
      basketball players while balancing on an unstable surface.

      Method: 30 subjects will be recruited from different basketball teams affiliated to the Swiss
      national league. They will have to perform some postural stability tests on both unstable
      ("Delos") and stable surfaces ("Single Les Stance", "Star Excursion Balance Test", "Cross
      Over Hop Test for Distance") under three different conditions. The three condition will be as
      followed : with a KT positioned on the lateral side of the leg, with a sham tape or without
      tape. The three sessions will be spaced in time (7 days of wash out). The order of the three
      interventions (KT, Sham tape, no tape) will be randomized (cross over) to avoid the bias of
      learning processes. Neither the subjects nor the examiner will be aware of the "tape
      condition" (double blind); a physiotherapist will be in charge of positioning the tape
      according to the tested condition.

      The sequence of the tests will be the same for all subjects and breaks are scheduled to avoid
      the effect of the fatigue. An anamnesis of all subjects will be done in order to evaluate
      history of injuries. At the end of each session, a visual analogical scale will be completed
      by the athlete to obtain a personal feeling of stability . The subject will be also asked to
      determine which condition was tested.

      Expected results: the application of a KT on the lateral side of the leg improves postural
      stability on instable surfaces in elite basketball players.

      Field's importance: the application of KT may reduce the risk of ankle sprains and the
      recurrence of sprains in a population of athletes at risk.
    

Intervention name(s): Leukotape K; Sham kinesiotape
Intervention type(s): Device; Device
Intervention description(s): All interventions will be performed by a qualified physiotherapist in a standardized manner. Tape will be extended to the recommended length (120%) and applied along the outer side of the leg, along the path of the peroneal muscle. Starting in the middle of the foot arch, the tape ends 1 cm below tibial head.; KT put with no effects
Other intervention name(s): Leukotape K, Johnson & Johnson
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Crossover Assignment
Masking: Triple (Participant, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: Kinestiotaping; Basketball players; Effect of kinesiotaping; on postural stability