Virtual Reality for Acute Pain in Outpatient Hysteroscopy: A Randomised Controlled Trial

Abstract

This a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. Data may be preliminary.

Does virtual reality technology reduce pain and anxiety during outpatient hysteroscopy? A randomised controlled trial

“…The original study of VRT in OPH by Deo et al 19 found a significant reduction in patient‐reported average pain, worst pain and anxiety scores by 28, 38 and 39%, respectively. with the use of VRT.…”

“…A power calculation was performed to determine sample size based on data from a previous similar study investigating pain and anxiety with VRT use in OPH (figures for effect on anxiety were used for calculation, as there was a smaller difference than for pain scores between groups, VRT group mean 5.45, SD 3.35 and control group mean 3.30, SD 2.03) 19 . With a targeted 80% study power (β‐value) and 0.05 level of significance (α‐value), a minimum sample size of 38 participants in each group was estimated.…”

“…This provides the user with a realistic immersive virtual environment which can be interacted with. 14 VRT has been utilised in the medical field to aid surgical training, patient education, rehabilitation as well as pain and anxiety management for a variety of diverse scenarios including burns management, medical procedures, dentistry and labour [14][15][16][17][18] However, currently there are only three published trials [19][20][21] investigating the use of VRT during OPH and these offer conflicting results on its effectiveness, meaning clarification is needed.…”

Re: Virtual reality for acute pain in outpatient hysteroscopy: a randomised controlled trial

“…We have read with interest the study by Deo et al. published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 1 . We noted that although the control and the virtual reality (VR) group were ‘comparable’ regarding previous hysteroscopies, differences in baseline pain expectation scores between patients with a previous hysteroscopy and patients without previous hysteroscopy were not given.…”

Authors' reply re: Virtual reality for acute pain in outpatient hysteroscopy: a randomised controlled trial

“…We would like to thank E. Mirza 1 and colleagues for their interest in our study, Virtual reality for acute pain in outpatient hysteroscopy: a randomised controlled trial 2 …”