Effectiveness of virtual technologies in relieving pain in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

Purpose: tto assess the possibility and feasibility of using virtual technologies to reduce the intensity of pain in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in real clinical practice.Materials and methods: we observed for 2 weeks 48 women with rheumatoid arthritis verified by modern methods during inpatient treatment at the State Budgetary Healthcare Institution of the Research Institute-KKB No. 1 n.a. prof. S.V. Ochapovsky. The patients were divided into two groups according to the case-control principle, of which 1 out of 28 patients constituted the intervention group, and 2 out of 20 patients were observed as controls. The study included only women from 20 to 75 years old, signed informed consent. According to clinical data and indicators of the course of rheumatoid arthritis, the groups were comparable. The severity of pain manifestations of the articular syndrome, quality of life, and duration of pain during the day were analyzed. All patients received comparable standard basic therapy. Patients of the 1st group were additionally conducted daily 20-minute lessons according to the method of "distracted involvement" using virtual games through VR-glasses.Results: the using of computer games with VR glasses led to a decrease in the severity of pain by 29,62% in patients of group 1 versus 18,97% in the comparison group. They had a significant decrease in intense pain 3 days earlier and by the end of the course of virtual therapy they recorded a significant (by 37.5%) reduction in the duration of pain during the day (with a 26% effect in the comparison group). A positive aspect of the use of virtual technologies was the reduction in the total dose of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs taken in the observation group by 48% (versus 26% in group II). This fact creates conditions for reducing the drug load in the total volume of therapy and prevents the development of side and unwanted iatrogenic reactions.Conclusion: the application of the method of "distracted involvement" with the use of games through VR-glasses in patients with rheumatoid arthritis is an effective method of analgesic non-drug action in complex therapy. The low cost and high analgesic efficacy of the method makes it possible to recommend its use in the inpatient treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. At the same time, a number of issues of safety and effective duration of course use of virtual games in order to reduce the severity of pain syndromes require further study.