JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

A recent surge in interest at understanding alternative options to pharmacological analgesia for managing acute pain has resulted in the development of a new research field that explores the feasibility of using Virtual Reality (VR) in pain relief regimes within clinical environments.

Objective:

To review the current evidence for the efficacy of VR as an analgesic in the management of acute pain in an inpatient setting.

Methods:

A comprehensive search was conducted till January 2019 on PubMed, Ovid Medline, EMBASE, and Cochrane Database of Systematic reviews as per the PRISMA guidelines. Search terms included ‘virtual reality', ‘vr’, and 'pain'. Primary articles with a focus on acute pain in the clinical setting were considered for the following review. Primary and secondary outcome measures: Quantification of outcomes for acute pain patients in relation to analgesic and anxiolytic effect, modulation of physiological indicators of pain, and adverse effects resultant of VR technology.

Results:

18 studies were deemed eligible for inclusion in this systematic review. 66.7% (12/18) of studies demonstrated significant reductions in pain with the utilization of VR. 27.8% (5/18) of studies screened for side effects with incidence rates of up to 5.2%. 44.4% (8/18) of studies assessed the effects of VR on procedural anxiety with 50% (4/8) of these demonstrating significant reductions in it. Finally, 38.9% (7/18) of studies evaluated the effects of VR on physiological indicators of pain with 28.6% (2/7) demonstrating significant changes.

Conclusions:

The available evidence suggests that VR therapy can facilitate analgesia in acute pain in a variety of inpatient settings. In addition, it has the added potential to provide procedural anxiolysis and has a low incidence of side effects associated with it. Further large-scale prospective studies are required to establish its utility in this setting.