Effectiveness of elastic therapeutic taping in pain management after median sternotomy: A randomized controlled trial

To evaluate the effectiveness of elastic therapeutic taping on postoperative pain, functional mobility, sleep quality, analgesic consumption, and length of hospital stay in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) via median sternotomy. In this prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo- and sham-controlled trial, 195 patients undergoing elective CABG were randomly assigned to elastic therapeutic taping (n = 65), placebo taping without tension (n = 65), or sham taping to a non-related region (n = 65). Elastic therapeutic taping was applied after patients were transferred from the intensive care unit to the cardiovascular surgery ward. Pain at rest and during coughing was assessed using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) at baseline and 12, 24, and 48 hours. Secondary outcomes were Timed Up and Go (TUG), sleep quality, total analgesic use, and length of hospital stay. Data were analyzed using a prespecified two-way mixed ANOVA with Bonferroni-adjusted post hoc comparisons for the primary pain outcome. Nonparametric secondary outcomes were analyzed using Kruskal–Wallis or Friedman tests, as appropriate. At 48 hours, resting pain was lower in the elastic therapeutic taping group (19.0 ± 10.2) than placebo taping without tension group (37.5 ± 13.7) and sham taping group (41.2 ± 16.2; p = 0.001). The observed between-group reduction in pain exceeded the reported minimal clinically important difference (MCID) of 9.9 mm for acute postoperative pain, indicating a clinically meaningful treatment effect. Coughing pain was also reduced (39.2 ± 17.0 vs. 56.3 ± 17.2 and 59.4 ± 16.8; p = 0.001). Tramadol use was lower with elastic therapeutic taping (50 ± 50 mg vs. 100 ± 50 mg; p = 0.038). Elastic therapeutic taping was associated with a shorter length of hospital stay (4 [3–5] vs. 5 [4–7] days; p = 0.042). Functional mobility (TUG, p = 0.002) and sleep quality (p = 0.001) were also significantly improved in the elastic therapeutic taping group compared with the placebo and sham groups. Elastic therapeutic taping was associated with reduced pain, lower opioid use, improved early recovery, and a shorter length of hospital stay after median sternotomy. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06910215