Abstract
Objectives:
Pain and edema following orthognathic surgery are significant clinical problems that can negatively affect patients’ postoperative comfort and complicate the healing process. Kinesiological taping, a noninvasive method with a low potential for side effects, stands out as an alternative or complementary approach to pharmacological treatments in the management of postoperative symptoms.
Methods:
In a split-face design, kinesiological taping was applied to 1 side of the face of 30 patients in the postoperative period, while the opposite side served as a control. The tapes were left in place for 5 days. Pain levels were assessed using the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS). Edema was evaluated on days 2 and 5 postoperatively and at a 1-year follow-up using stereophotogrammetric analysis and distance measurements between defined anatomic reference points. In addition to descriptive statistics, the independent-samples
t
test, the Mann-Whitney
U
test, ANOVA, and the Friedman test were used.
Results:
Pain scores were higher on the control side during the 5-day follow-up period, but the difference between the groups was not statistically significant. In stereophotogrammetric measurements, lower edema values were observed on the side where kinesiological taping was applied at all evaluation times. In distance measurements between anatomic reference points, significantly lower edema values were detected on the kinesiological taping side on the fifth postoperative day in the distance between the angulus-labial commissure and the lateral canthus-angulus.
Conclusion:
Kinesiology taping may be considered a potentially effective, noninvasive, easy-to-apply, and cost-effective adjunctive method for reducing postoperative edema following orthognathic surgery.