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Goggles on, nerves down: VR during awake surgery
In a randomized study, patients wearing virtual reality headsets during awake surgery reported less anxiety.
Mind & calm · 2 min read
The most nerve-wracking moment of awake surgery is often the first injection. A randomized trial of wide-awake hand surgery tested a simple fix: virtual reality.
Patients using VR had lower anxiety scores during the injection, during the procedure and at the end. Blood pressure, heart rate and overall pain scores did not differ. VR patients rated the experience as more fun and said it helped them relax. Among those who already had anxiety, VR patients also reported lower pain and anxiety during the local anesthetic injection.
Read that carefully: the improvement was in anxiety and experience, not a measured drop in pain scores overall.
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References
- Hoxhallari E, Behr IJ, Bradshaw JS, et al. Virtual reality improves the patient experience during wide-awake local anesthesia no tourniquet hand surgery: a single-blind, randomized, prospective study. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2019;408-414. PMID 31348351