Acute Effect of Kinesio Tape on Knee Joint Biomechanics PO-0391 Acute Effect of Kinesio Tape on Knee Joint Biomechanics during Sidestep Cutting Task Chuanpis Boonkerd1,2, Weerawat Limroongreungrat1 and Jos Vanrenterghem3 1College of Sports Science and Technology, Mahidol University, Thailand 2 Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Thammasat University, Thailand 3School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, UK INTRODUCTION RESULTS Kinesio tape (KT) has been widely used for different purposes, providing structural support, reducing swelling and inflammation, stimulating and inhibiting muscle activity, and improving blood and lymph flow1. Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury commonly occurs during non-contact situations particularly during deceleration, sidestep cutting and landing2 . KT has also been used to support the knee after ACL injury to prevent tibial translation. It is believed that KT allows more functional activity as compared to other types of support such as functional knee braces and prophylactic tape. However, no previous studies have investigated the effect of KT on knee joint angles and moments during sidestep cutting tasks. Table 1 Knee joint angles at initial contact (IC) and peak knee joint angles Angle (Degrees) Taping group (N=14) Placebo group p-value Knee flexion at IC -21.7±6.59 -23.6±6.73 0.36 Knee varus at IC 1.5±1.28 1.2±1.08 0.71 Knee external rotation at IC -2.2±2.25 -4.0±2.01 0.46 Peak knee flexion -36.9±7.28 -45.5±8.23 0.05 Peak knee valgus 6.2±2.58 7.7±3.28 0.16 Peak knee internal rotation 13.9±4.89 15.41±6.40 0.20 PURPOSE To investigate acute effects of KT on knee joint angles and moments in sidestep cutting. MATERIALS & METHODS Note: the data are presented using mean ± SD. P-value from the Multiple t-tests with the level of significant difference at P<0.05. Fourteen healthy males (age 21 ± 0.6 years; weight 72 ± 4.9 kg; height 1.7 ± 0.1 m) volunteered in the study. Subjects performed sidestep cutting tasks at 45 ± 5°of approach direction with running speed at 4.5 ± 0.5 m∙s-1. A 10 camera motion analysis system (BTS Bioengineering, Italy) synchronized with force plate (Kistler, Switzerland) were used to record kinematics and kinetics. The LJMU lower limb and trunk model was applied3. Each subject was randomly tested two times; 1) with a standardized KT technique for ACL injury (Taping group: TG) and 2) with the same tape and technique but without tension (Placebo group: PG). Three trials per condition were averaged and analyzed. Knee joint angles and moments from initial contact (IC) to the first 100 milliseconds of foot contact were analyzed using Visual3D software (C-motion, Inc., USA). Multiple t-tests with Bonferroni correction were used to compare between groups, using a p-value < 0.05. Fig 4 : Peak knee joint moments between taping and placebo group Figure 2 : ACL taping method CONCLUSION Figure 1 : LJMU lower limb and trunk mode Although the results did not show significant differences between the two conditions, the TG had smaller peak knee flexion and valgus angles which may indicate that the tape tension provided some support for joint stability. However, whether the tape is strong enough to help prevent ACL injury, it is still questionable since knee flexion and valgus moments were similar in both conditions. References Williams et al.,Sports Med, 42(2):153-64, 2012. Kristianslund et al, Am J Sports Med, 41(3):684-8, 2013. Robinson et al., Journal of Biomechanics, 45:1941-1946, 2012. Figure 3 : Side step cutting task Conflict of interest statement :The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest associated with this study.