Surgical anxiety creates psychological and physiological stress, causes complications in surgical procedures, and prolongs recovery. Relaxation of patients in postoperative intensive care units can moderate patient vital signs and reduce discomfort. This experiment explores the use of virtual reality (VR) cybertherapy to reduce postoperative distress in patients that have recently undergone cardiac surgery. Sixty-seven patients were monitored at IMSS La Raza National Medical Center within 24 hours of cardiac surgery. Patients navigated through a 30 minute VR simulation designed for pain management. Results were analyzed through comparison of pre-and postoperative vital signs and Likert scale survey data. A connection was found in several physiological factors with subjective responses from the Likert scale survey. Heavy positive correlation existed between breathing rate and Likert ratings, and a moderate correlation was found between mean arterial pressure and Likert ratings and heart rate and Likert ratings, all of which indicated lower pain and stress within patients. Further study of these factors resulted in the categorization of patients based upon their vital signs and subjective response, providing a context for the effectiveness of the therapy to specific groups of patients.

Many studies have shown the ability of media--television, movies, and virtual reality (VR) experiences--to elicit emotions. Nevertheless, it is still unclear how the different factors involved--user related and medium related--play a role in producing an emotional response during a VR experience. We investigate this issue, analyzing the role played by the cultural and technological backgrounds of the users in the emotional responses to VR. Specifically, we use the "core affect" model of emotions developed by Russell (2003) to explore how these factors influence the way in which participants experience virtual worlds. Our sample includes 20 Mexican participants: 8 living in El Tepeyac, a small rural and isolated Mexican village characterized by a very primitive culture, and 12 high civilized inhabitants of Mexico City. The "Green Valley," a noninteractive, relaxing immersive environment showing a mountain landscape around a calm lake, was used to induce relaxation in the two groups during an ambulatory surgical operation. To investigate the effects of VR on the relaxation process, we measured participants' physiological (heart rate) and emotional (VAS-A) responses before, during, and after the operation. The results show that VR significantly modified the core affect (reduced arousal) in all participants but that the final emotional response produced by this change was influenced by the attribution process: the civilized inhabitants of Mexico City, who were able to attribute the reduced arousal to the VR experience, reported a significant reduction in the self-reported level of anxiety, while people from El Tepeyac showed a reduction in their physiological reactions but not in their perceived anxiety.

Cardiac and other invasive surgical procedures cause significant anxiety and stress to patients and their family members. In this study Virtual Reality (VR) was used as a method to reduce stress, anxiety and pain in patients undergoing surgical procedures. This study compared a cohort of patients in the interval prior to and successive to the surgery, differentiating the responses achieved by males and females and comparing the effectiveness. The results are encouraging: they demonstrate the efficacy of VR treatment and the safety of the method and detection of differences in the responses based on gender.

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