MOBILIZATION WITH MOVEMENT AND KINESIOTAPING COMPARED WITH A SUPERVISED EXERCISE PROGRAM FOR PAINFUL SHOULDER: RESULTS OF A CLINICAL TRIAL

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of Mobilization with Movement (MWM) and kinesiotaping (KT) techniques with a supervised exercise program in participants with patients with shoulder pain. Methods: Twenty subjects with shoulder pain were included if subjects were diagnosed by the referring physician with either rotator cuff lesion with impingement syndrome or impingement shoulder syndrome. Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups after clinical and radiologic assessment: group 1 was treated with MWM and KT techniques, whereas group 2 was treated with a supervised exercise program. The main outcome measures were active pain-free shoulder abduction and flexion tested on days 0, 5, and 10. Results: Improvement in active pain-free shoulder range of motion was significantly higher in the group treated with MWM and KT. Repeated-measures analysis of variance indicated significant effects of treatment, time, and treatment x time interaction. Conclusion: This study suggests that MWM and KT may be an effective and useful treatment in range of motion augmentation of subjects with rotator cuff lesion and impingement syndrome or impingement shoulder syndrome. (J Manipulative Physiol Ther 2012;35:454-463)