Use of tubigrip in acute knee injuries
Date First Published:
July 15, 2007
Last Updated:
December 8, 2011
Report by:
Catherine Roberts, SpR, Emergency Medicine (Royal Bolton Hospital)
Three-Part Question:
In [adults with acute knee injuries] does the [use of tubigrip] [lead to reduced pain and a quicker recovery time]
Clinical Scenario:
A patient presents to your emergency department following an acute knee injury. You exclude a fracture and any acute significant meniscal or ligamentous injury and diagnose a knee sprain. You provide the patient with analgesia and RICE advice and wonder whether the application of a tubigrip will also help reduce their pain and lead to a quicker recovery.
Search Strategy:
Ovid Medline 1966 - July week 1 2007
Ovid Embase 1980 - July week 1 2007
Ovid Embase 1980 - July week 1 2007
Search Details:
Medline and Embase: (exp Knee Injuries/ OR Knee injur$.mp/ OR Knee sprain$.mp/ OR Knee strain$.mp/ OR acute knee injur$.mp) AND (exp Bandages/ OR tubigrip.mp/ OR support bandage.mp/ OR elastic bandage.mp) limit to human and english language.
Outcome:
Medline indentified 35 papers and Embase identified 15 papers, none of which were relevant to the three part question.
Author Commentary:
No papers were found addressing the use of tubigrip in the management of acute knee sprains.
Bottom Line:
There is currently no evidence to say whether the use of tubigrip in acute knee sprains improves pain and shortens recovery time.