Conservative rehabilitation treatments of iliotibial band syndrome: A systematic review

Background. Iliotibial band syndrome (IBS) one of the most common injury of the lateral knee. This is an overuse injury, and it has an increased occurrence rate in populations favouring running and other multidisciplinary endurance sports. In many cases, the pain quickly subsides upon cessation of activities. For this reason, rehabilitation plays an essential role in reducing days of inactivity. Objective. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the qualitative results of conservative rehabilitation treatments of IBS. Methods. The following four electronic databases were systematically searched from March to May 2020: Medline, PEDro, Scopus and Web of Science. Papers included in the study met the following prerequisites: experimental studies with or without a control group about conservative treatments of IBS. Titles, key words, and abstracts identified through the databases were screened independently by two reviewers/searchers. Duplicates were first eliminated from the total number of studies found in the literature through the four databases. Subsequently, after reading the title and abstract, studies against the inclusion criteria were eliminated. Two reviewers independently extracted patient demographics and descriptive information. These characteristics were judged on the basis of information provided in the reports on the studies. Study quality and risks of bias were assessed using the Jadad scale and Pedro scale. Results. Twelve experimental studies were included in this systematic review. Three of these are Radomized Controlled Trials three are pre-post-test and six are case reports and case series. Conclusions. IBS responds positively to conservative treatment. More precisely, in the acute phase, shockwaves can be used, and rest and ice are recommended. Stretching and strengthening exercises should be started after the acute phase. Mulligan techniques on the hip and knee can also be used to treat iliotibial band syndrome.