Virtual Reality in the Operating Room (OR-VR)

Beth Israel Lahey Health

Status: Completed

Conditions: Delayed Recovery From Anesthesia; Satisfaction; Pain, Postoperative; Relaxation Therapy; Anesthesia, Intravenous

Treatments: Other: Virtual Reality Immersive Relaxation

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; Industry

Identifiers

NCT03614325

2018P000398

Details and patient eligibility

About

This is a randomized, controlled trial designed to investigate whether the use of virtual reality immersive relaxation during hand/arm operations can allow for a relaxing operating room experience for patients while potentially reducing anesthesia requirements.

Full description

The proposed study is a randomized, controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of VR as an adjunct to standard anesthetic practice for upper extremity surgery. Patients will be randomized to undergo immersion relaxation via the use of VR during their procedure or control. In both groups patients will undergo regional anesthesia preoperatively according to standard practice. Patients will then be assessed postoperatively to assess the intraoperative propofol dose between groups, as well as secondary outcomes including patient satisfaction.

Enrollment: 40 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Patients undergoing upper extremity (hand, wrist, arm, and/or elbow) surgery at BIDMC under MAC

Exclusion criteria

• Age < 18
• Open wounds or active infection of the face or eye area
• History of seizures or other symptom linked to an epileptic condition
• Patients who plan to wear hearing aids during the procedure
• Patients with a pacemaker or other implanted medical device
• Droplet or airborne precautions (as determined by BIDMC infection control policy)
• Non-English speaking
• Patients who require deep sedation
• Patients who are deemed ineligible to approach by the surgeon

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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40 participants in 2 patient groups

Usual Anesthesia Care

No Intervention group

Description:

Patients in the usual care arm will undergo the current standard of care for hand/wrist surgery and postoperative recovery. They will be asked to refrain from using a virtual reality headset during their surgery.

Virtual Reality Immersive Relaxation

Experimental group

Description:

Patients in the experimental group will wear a headset and be immersed in a virtual reality environment during their surgery. There are various short videos and environments such as sitting on a beach that are designed to promote relaxation and calmness. Throughout their surgery patients will be monitored according to current anesthesia standards. The relaxation programming will run for the duration of the operative procedure. At the end of the procedure the headset will be removed and standard postoperative care will commence.

Treatment:

Other: Virtual Reality Immersive Relaxation