Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilisation in the Management of Musculoskeletal Pain: A Literature Review with Implications for Clinical Practice Guidelines

摘要

Musculoskeletal conditions are common and involve most of the tissue types. Soft tissue mobilisation is a type of manual therapyadministered by hand or with a rigid device. Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilisation (IASTM) is a technique which usesinstruments to remove scar tissues and helps to facilitate healing in soft tissue injuries. Several IASTM tools and techniques areavailable to provide the soft tissue mobilisation. The purpose of this review article is to appraise evidence and show insight onhistory, mechanism and effects of IASTM. A literature search was conducted from PubMed, Embase, PEDro and Science Directdatabase journals to identify potential articles. Forty articles were identifed, 32 articles were considered for the review. Based onthe available case studies and experimental studies, IASTM can help the scar tissue mobilisation, musculoskeletal injuries. Stillmore articles and research must emerge to provide more evidence on IASTM.