BACKGROUND:

Kinesio tape (KT) has been in extensive use for the rehabilitation of injuries related to sports, however, only a handful of studies have focused on the efficacy of KT following extraction of a third molar tooth.

OBJECTIVE:

The study aims to assess whether pain and edema following surgical extraction of the third molar can be reduced by KT.

METHOD:

This research was carried out following the principles of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Web of Science, Embase, PubMed, The Cochrane Library, CNKI, VIP, and WanFang Data databases were searched for trials published from their inception to eighth October 2021. They included published randomized controlled trials in Chinese or English languages. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database scale. Mean differences (MDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used for the analysis of continuous data. The heterogeneity was measured using the I 2 statistics. Then, Revman 5.4 software was employed for performing the meta-analysis.

RESULTS:

Eight studies comprising 453 participants in total were included. In comparison to the no kinesio tape group, KT did not furnish improved results on mouth opening ([MD = 0.36, 95% CI ( - 0.67, 1.40), p = 0.49]), and swelling ([MD = - 1.24, 95% CI ( - 3.43, 0.95), p = 0.79]). However, KT manifested a reduction in operation time ([MD = - 1.00, 95% CI ( - 1.93, - 0.07), P = 0.04]), edema ([MD = - 0.53, 95% CI ( - 0.88, - 0.19), P = 0.003]), and pain intensity ([MD = - 1.29, 95% CI ( - 1.86, - 0.73), P < 0.00001]), favouring the kinesio tape group. Overall, the size of the effect was found in the small to moderate range.

CONCLUSION:

Despite the fact that KT can reduce pain and has been shown to have positive effects in several studies, there is no convincing evidence that it can reduce the swelling after surgical extraction of the third molar.