Immersive Virtual Reality for Pediatric Pain

Abstract

Children must often endure painful procedures as part of their treatment for various medical conditions. Those with chronic pain endure frequent or constant discomfort in their daily lives, sometimes severely limiting their physical capacities. With the advent of affordable consumer-grade equipment, clinicians have access to a promising and engaging intervention for pediatric pain, both acute and chronic. In addition to providing relief from acute and procedural pain, virtual reality (VR) may also help to provide a corrective psychological and physiological environment to facilitate rehabilitation for pediatric patients suffering from chronic pain. The special qualities of VR such as presence, interactivity, customization, social interaction, and embodiment allow it to be accepted by children and adolescents and incorporated successfully into their existing medical therapies. However, the powerful and transformative nature of many VR experiences may also pose some risks and should be utilized with caution. In this paper, we review recent literature in pediatric virtual reality for procedural pain and anxiety, acute and chronic pain, and some rehabilitation applications. We also discuss the practical considerations of using VR in pediatric care, and offer specific suggestions and information for clinicians wishing to adopt these engaging therapies into their daily clinical practice.

Keywords: Virtual reality; nonpharmacological; pediatric pain; procedural pain; rehabilitation.

Figure 1

The child may move her head in pitch orientation, as in nodding her head, in yaw orientation, as in moving her head from side to side to look around the environment, or in roll orientation, as in touching her ear to her shoulder.

Figure 2

Virtual Reality (VR) coordinate system. In this picture, movement in the y-axis corresponds to moving up and down, movement in the x-axis corresponds to moving left and right, and movement in the z-axis corresponds to moving forward and backward. While global positional coordinates may vary according to set up, y is the up–down direction and the z-axis will often reflect movement towards the monitor of the desktop computer.