Virtual reality therapy in patients after trauma surgery: prospective clinical trial

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Postoperative pain is a common problem. The use of non-drug treatments can reduce the need for medications. The use of Virtual Reality Therapy (VR-therapy) is being widely studied as a complementary treatment for acute and chronic pain. The lack of data on the effectiveness of the technique in patients after traumatological surgical interventions became the basis for this study. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness of VR-therapy as a method of additional treatment of postoperative pain in patients after traumatological surgical interventions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective clinical study included 70 patients admitted for elective trauma surgery. VR-therapy in combination with medicated analgesics was used in 35 patients. The control group included 35 patients who, after performing similar surgical interventions, were given pain relief only with medication. Virtual reality therapy was performed using an Oculus Quest 2 device. Sessions of 25 minutes were performed 3, 7, 12 hours after the operation. The effectiveness of pain therapy was assessed using a numerical rating scale. The response of the endocrine-metabolic response to pain was assessed by changes in the concentration of cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). RESULTS: Therapy based on drug analgesia in combination with virtual reality sessions led to a better quality of pain relief for patients after trauma surgery. After a session of VR, the decrease in scores on the pain self-assessment scale was 44 %. When compared with the results obtained the next day, the values in the main group were lower by 22 %. The need of patients of the main group for narcotic analgesics significantly decreased. The change in the concentration of ACTH, as an indicator of the endocrine-metabolic response, in the group with VR-therapy was 18 % less pronounced. CONCLUSIONS: The use of VR leads to a decrease in postoperative pain, endocrine-metabolic response and the need for opioid analgesics.