Future Directions: Advances and Implications of Virtual Environments Designed for Pain Management

Wiederhold, Brenda K.; Soomro, Ahmad; Riva, Giuseppe; Wiederhold, Mark D.

doi:10.1089/cyber.2014.0197

Cited by 46 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…In relation to the use of VR for pain management, older systematic reviews 71,72 demonstrated the efficacy of VR distraction 73–75 for reducing experimental pain, 76 as well as the one generated by burn injury care, 77–79 chronic pain, 80–82 and procedural pain. 83–85 Hence, the first new one 6 focused its analysis on the integrated use of VR with brain stimulation (transcranial direct-current stimulation) in pain management.…”

Section: Virtual Reality In Behavioral Health: a Meta-reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neuroscience of Virtual Reality: From Virtual Exposure to Embodied Medicine

Riva

Wiederhold

Mantovani

2019

Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking

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382

260

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Is virtual reality (VR) already a reality in behavioral health? To answer this question, a meta-review was conducted to assess the meta-analyses and systematic and narrative reviews published in this field in the last twenty-two months. Twenty-five different articles demonstrated the clinical potential of this technology in both the diagnosis and the treatment of mental health disorders: VR compares favorably to existing treatments in anxiety disorders, eating and weight disorders, and pain management, with long-term effects that generalize to the real world. But why is VR so effective? Here, the following answer is suggested: VR shares with the brain the same basic mechanism: embodied simulations. According to neuroscience, to regulate and control the body in the world effectively, the brain creates an embodied simulation of the body in the world used to represent and predict actions, concepts, and emotions. VR works in a similar way: the VR experience tries to predict the sensory consequences of an individual's movements, providing to him/her the same scene he/she will see in the real world. To achieve this, the VR system, like the brain, maintains a model (simulation) of the body and the space around it. If the presence in the body is the outcome of different embodied simulations, concepts are embodied simulations, and VR is an embodied technology, this suggests a new clinical approach discussed in this article: the possibility of altering the experience of the body and facilitating cognitive modeling/change by designing targeted virtual environments able to simulate both the external and the internal world/body.

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Section: Virtual Reality In Behavioral Health: a Meta-reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neuroscience of Virtual Reality: From Virtual Exposure to Embodied Medicine

Riva

Wiederhold

Mantovani

2019

Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking

Self Cite

382

260

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Virtual reality (VR) is an increasingly promising and affordable technological medium that is used to create simulated scenarios in which users are immersed and able to interact with the virtual environment (VE) through multisensorial stimulation 10 . There has been increasing interest in assessing its analgesic potential in various fields of medicine, especially since VR has demonstrated clinical efficacy in pain reduction whilst being well-tolerated by patients in a variety of settings e.g.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A randomised controlled trial to assess the feasibility of utilising virtual reality to facilitate analgesia during external cephalic version

Smith

Warty

Kashyap

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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external cephalic version (ecV) is associated with a moderate degree of pain. Virtual reality (VR) is a technology that has shown promise in offering procedural analgesia. We undertook a clinical pilot to assess the viability of VR to reduce pain during ECV. In an open randomised controlled trial (RCT), we randomised 50 women to either VR or standard care each (25 per group). Women receiving VR were administered VR content (Skylights) via a headset. Pre-and post-procedural measures of pain, anxiety, device experience and vital signs were measured. There were no significant differences between groups (VR/no VR) in pain scores (60.68 vs 49.76; p = 0.2), ECV success rates (80% vs 76%; p = 0.7) or anxiety levels. The women receiving VR had a significantly higher anticipation of pain pre-procedurally (70.0 vs 50.0; p = 0.03). 20 (80%) of the VR women indicated that they would use VR again and 22 (88%) indicated they would recommend it to a friend having ECV. There were no significant differences between groups for side effects encountered or changes in vital signs. We have shown that using VR during ecV is feasible and appears safe. our results inform the design of future Rcts. open Scientific RepoRtS | (2020) 10:3141 | https://doi.

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“…VR interventions have been used in acute pain management related to healthcare interventions for over two decades ( Chan et al., 2018 ). Pharmacological approaches remain the mainstay for most interventions, but their significant drawbacks—including narrow therapeutic windows, adverse side effects, and drug misuse and dependence—are making VR-based interventions a valuable option ( Wiederhold et al., 2014 ).…”

Section: Clinical Applications and Recommendations ∗mentioning

confidence: 99%