VR Study Sophia Children Hospital

“Virtual reality exposure before elective daycare surgery to reduce anxiety and pain in children”.

VR study by the Erasmus MC Sophia Children Hospital and published in the European Journal of Anaesthesiology. The aim of this study was to investigate if virtual reality exposure (VRE) as a preparation tool for elective day care surgery in children is associated with lower levels of anxiety, pain and emergence delirium compared with a control group receiving care as usual.

Interesting conclusion:
In children undergoing elective day care surgery, VRE did not have a beneficial effect on anxiety, pain, emergence delirium or parental anxiety. However, after more painful surgery, children in the VRE group needed rescue analgesia significantly less often, a clinically important finding because of the side effects associated with analgesic drugs. Options for future research are to include children with higher levels of anxiety and pain and to examine the timing and duration of VRE.

For complete study:
Publication website European Journal of Anaesthesiology
The paper