Functional Taping Applied to Upper Limb of Children with Hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy: A Pilot Study

Functional taping with elastic bandages and adhesive tapes could limit the action of upper limb spastic muscles and sustain that of weaker muscles in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy (CP). 16 young children with CP (3 +/- 2 years old) were enrolled in this pilot study including 5 months of taping in conjunction with conventional physical therapy, followed by 7 months of physical therapy alone (taping wash-out), and other 5 months of taping plus therapy. Large improvements in the Melbourne assessment score were found in the first period in which taping was used (+15.4%, p<0.001) and also in the second one despite 8 drop-outs (+8.4%, p=0.012), but not during the taping wash-out (-4.6%; p=0.093). These results suggest that children with CP could benefit from the continuous correction provided by taping in order to limit the development of improper upper limb motor schemas and to favour that of proper ones.