Investigation of the effect of kinesiology tape on biomechanical variables of landing before and after fatigue in athletes with a history of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of using kinesiology tape on kinetic and kinematic variables of single-leg landing before and after fatigue induction in athletes with a history of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

Quasi-experimental interventional study with three parallel groups; no randomization; single-blind (blind analyst); sample size 30 people; including ACL-R with type, ACL-R without type, and healthy group. The study was conducted in phase 0 (exploratory).

The study was conducted in the Sports Biomechanics Laboratory of Bu-Ali Sina University. Subjects performed the single-leg landing test before and after the fatigue protocol, and kinematic and kinetic data were recorded with the Vicon system and Kistler force plate. In the ACL-R group, the assessment was repeated 24 hours after the application of kinesiotape. The data analyst was blinded to the group assignment and the data were provided to him in a coded form.

Inclusion criteria: Age 18–35 years, at least 1 year after ACL-R surgery, ability to land on one leg from a height of 30 cm, consent to participate. Exclusion criteria: Use of allograft, sensitivity to kinesiotherapy, strenuous activity leading to fatigue in the last 3 days, musculoskeletal abnormality, history of other lower limb surgery affecting landing.

Intervention group: Subjects in this group receive active kinesiology taping with facilitating and restraining techniques. Control group: Subjects in this group do not receive any kinesiology tape (neither active nor placebo) and only undergo the single-leg landing test.

Vertical/Anterior-Posterior/Internal-External GRF; Time to Peak GRF (TTP); Loading Rate; Impulse; Hip, Knee, and Ankle Joint moment; Hip, Knee, and Ankle Joint Peak Angles

In this study, blinding was performed in a single-blind manner. The person responsible for the statistical analysis was blinded to the allocation of data to the control or experimental groups at all measurement time points. After data collection, the data were coded by someone other than the analyst, and three datasets with neutral labels (Group 1, Group 2, and Group 3) were provided to the analyst. These labels did not indicate whether a dataset belonged to the control group or the experimental group, nor did they reveal the measurement time. The analyst performed the analysis solely based on the coded datasets, and after the initial analysis was completed, the assignment codes were unblinded by the principal investigator to interpret the final results.

There is no plan to publish.

In this study, there are no plans to share data files or individual participant information with other researchers outside the research team. The data will be used solely for internal research analyses, and the results will be published in an aggregated, anonymized form in a scientific article.