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Review
. 2024 Jan 5;3(2):100814.
doi: 10.1016/j.jacadv.2023.100814. eCollection 2024 Feb.

Virtual Reality for Pain and Anxiety Management in Cardiac Surgery and Interventional Cardiology

Sulayman El Mathari  1 , Anne Hoekman  1 , Rohit K Kharbanda  1   2 , Amir H Sadeghi  3 , Rob de Lind van Wijngaarden  1 , Marco Götte  4 , Robert J M Klautz  1   2 , Jolanda Kluin  3
Affiliations
Review

Virtual Reality for Pain and Anxiety Management in Cardiac Surgery and Interventional Cardiology

Sulayman El Mathari et al. JACC Adv. .

Abstract

Pain and anxiety are common in patients undergoing cardiac surgery and percutaneous cardiac interventions. Virtual reality (VR) is an emerging non-pharmacological tool for pain and anxiety management. However, its application around cardiac procedures remains relatively unexplored. In this review, we perform a targeted non-systematic literature review to assess the current state-of-the-art of VR for pain and anxiety management in patients undergoing cardiac procedures. Contexts of interest were preprocedural, periprocedural, and postprocedural applications. Existing trials show inconsistent results. The majority of studies in the preprocedural (7 studies, n = 302), periprocedural (1 study, n = 99), and postprocedural stage (4 studies, n = 214) demonstrate significant reduction of pain and anxiety through VR distraction therapy or VR patient education. However, larger-scale trials (2 preprocedural studies [n = 233], 1 periprocedural study [n = 32], 2 postprocedural studies [n = 300]) report no effect. Current literature on effectiveness of VR for pain and anxiety management in cardiac surgery and interventional cardiology remains inconclusive.

Keywords: anxiety; cardiac surgery; interventional cardiology; pain; virtual reality.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose.

Figures

None
Graphical abstract
Figure 1
Figure 1
Virtual Reality Distraction Therapy Is Accomplished by Guiding Patients' Attention Away From the Nociceptive and/or Stressful Stimuli Present in the Environment It achieves this by immersing them in serene and calming virtual environments accompanied by soothing sounds.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Virtual Reality Education Therapy Involves Creating a Virtual Representation of the Entire Care Process That Patients Will Undergo This can include both a realistic simulation of the practice (A) and a virtual animation depicting the upcoming treatment (B).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Risk of Bias Assessment of All Included Studies Using the Cochrane Risk ofBias Tool
Central Illustration
Central Illustration
Virtual Reality for Pain and Anxiety Management in Cardiac Surgery and Interventional Cardiology
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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