TITLE:
Virtual Reality in Surgery: Double Blind, Randomized Clinical Trial of Pain Control and Augmented Satisfaction
AUTHORS:
Karim W. Sadik, Matthew P. Miller, Nicholas Evertsen, Crystal D. Sadik, Hugo J. R. Bonatti
KEYWORDS:
Virtual Reality, Plastic Surgery, Pain Control
JOURNAL NAME:
Surgical Science,
Vol.14 No.6,
June
30,
2023
ABSTRACT: Introduction: Virtual reality (VR) utilizing a head-mounted display allows viewers to
immerse themselves in a virtual environment. This technology may be useful in
attenuating pain and anxiety and reducing patient subjective stress as well as
objective physiological increase in heart rate and blood pressure. Aside from the improved experience,
physiological stress is reduced which results in improved
patient outcomes. Patients and methods: Eligible
participants were all adults aged 18 or over who had non craniofacial lesions
requiring minor surgery. A total of 99 adult patients who were capable of
independent consent were randomized to receive a virtual reality experience
(VR) or standard music distraction (no VR). Patients were recruited for the
study during their office visit when scheduling minor procedure surgery. This
was a single center, double-blind, controlled study conducted at Guthrie Clinic
Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, Pennsylvania between March 2019 to January
2020 (pre-pandemic). Ethics approval for this study was obtained from the
Institutional Review Board of the Guthrie Clinic. Results: The change in
systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic
blood pressure (DBP) and heart rate (HR) significantly decreased from pre-procedure to mid-procedure in the VR
group compared with standard. Herein our results are presented. Conclusions: Reductions in intraprocedural SBP, DBP and HR can be achieved when using VR.
Although subjective reporting of pain and anxiety were not different between groups, VR significantly
improves patient satisfaction compared with non VR standards.