VR for Pediatric Burn Dressing Changes

Nationwide Children's Hospital

Status: Completed

Conditions: Burns; Pain

Treatments: Other: Virtual reality game as adjunctive pain management tool

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04544631

IRB16-00444

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study evaluated a smart phone virtual reality (VR) to manage pediatric burn dressing pain. A randomized controlled trial was conducted among 90 patients (6-17 years). Active VR participants played the game, passive VR group were immersed in the same VR without interactions, and a standard care group served as the control. One researcher administered VR and observed pain while another researcher administered post-trial survey that measured child's perceived pain and VR experience. Nurses were asked to report the clinical utility.

Enrollment: 90 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 6 to 17 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• children age 6-17 years (inclusive)
• admitted or seen in the outpatient clinic for a burn injury
• spoke English as primary language

Exclusion criteria

• a severe burn on the face or head that prevented the utilization of the VR
• cognitive or motor impairment that prevented valid administration of study measures
• visual or hearing impairments that prevented interaction with the VR environment
• did not have a legal guardian present to give consent

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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90 participants in 3 patient groups

Active VR

Experimental group

Description:

Participants in the active VR group played a virtual reality game entitled "Virtual River Cruise". In this game, an otter floats down a river on a boat and players activate snow-blowing statues along the shore by focusing on them. The statues will emit snow if they are correctly aimed at by the child, and a thermometer placed in the front of the boat shows decreased temperatures as more snowflakes are blown. As feedback to reinforce continued engagement, a scoreboard placed beside the thermometer will show children the number of statues he/she has activated. Additionally, as the temperature drops, snow and ice will start piling up on the boat and its surroundings, providing an enhanced "cooling" experience for pediatric burn patients. Children interact with the immersive virtual reality environment by tilting their head, minimizing potential interference with the dressing change procedure.

Treatment:

Other: Virtual reality game as adjunctive pain management tool

Passive VR

Experimental group

Description:

Participants in the passive VR group were immersed in the same virtual reality environment as the active VR group, without any interactions with the VR game.

Treatment:

Other: Virtual reality game as adjunctive pain management tool

Standard Care Control

No Intervention group

Description:

Participants in the standard group received routinely used distraction tools provided in the clinical setting, such as iPads, music, books, and/or talking.