Virtual reality as an acute pain reliever during laceration repair in emergency departments: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Introduction: Virtual Reality (VR) is a promising distraction technique that immerses the participant in a 3-dimensional virtual presence. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of VR on reducing pain in adult patients during laceration repair in the emergency department (ED). Methods: This is a randomized clinical trial conducted in the EDs of Rasoul Akram, Haftom-e-Tir and Firouzgar hospitals, all under supervision of Iran University of Medical Sciences. A total of 160 patients with laceration that needed suturing were divided into two equal groups of 80 patients; One group received the VR glasses during the suturing while the other group did not receive them. All patients in both groups received local analgesics. The pain intensity of the patients before and after the intervention was obtained using a numerical scale (from 1 to 10). Patient satisfaction was measured in terms of pain reduction based on a Likert scale: 1=bad, 2=poor, 3=moderate, 4=good, 5=excellent. The collected data of pain intensity and patient satisfaction were compared before and after the intervention. Results: The average age of patients in the VR+ group and VR- group was 37.04 ± 17.21 and 39.18 ±5.09 years, respectively. The average pain intensity of VR+ patients before and after using VR glasses were 4.87 ± 1.2 and 2.13 ± 1.32, respectively, of which demonstrated a significant reduction in the pain intensity of VR+ patients (P-value =0.028). The level of VR+ patients' satisfaction in terms of pain intensity before and after using VR glasses was 1.44 ± 0.52 and 3.23 ± 0.64, respectively, indicating a significant increase in the patients' satisfaction in terms of pain reduction after using VR glasses (P-value =0.033). Conclusion: VR has a positive effect on attenuating patients' pain and increasing their satisfaction in terms of pain reduction.