The effect of virtual body swapping with mental rehearsal on pain intensity and body perception disturbance in complex regional pain syndrome

Abstract

The present study investigated the effects of virtual body swapping with mental rehearsal on pain intensity and body perception disturbance (BPD) in patients with complex regional pain syndrome. Patients with complex regional pain syndrome were assigned randomly to three experimental groups: the 'virtual body swapping with mental rehearsal' (VBS) group (n=13), the 'watching movement only' group (n=13), and the 'mental rehearsal only' (n=13) group. Then, pretreatment pain intensity and BPD were compared with post-treatment perceptions. The results showed that pain intensity did not decrease significantly after treatment in all of the groups. However, BPD improved significantly after treatment in the VBS group, but not in the other groups. Therefore, this study is the first to show the effects of a single session of VBS on BPD. Further studies should apply an elevated degree of immersion and create a more realistic virtual body.