304 Let Kids Play: Using Virtual Reality as a Substitute for General Anesthesia for Minor Procedures in Children

Abstract

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Minor procedures are anxiety-provoking and/or painful for children. Virtual reality (VR) is an emerging technology in medicine and largely has been used as an adjunct to analgesia and opioids. This study reviews the institutional use of VR in lieu of pharmacology and general anesthesia (GA) to perform minor procedures in a pediatric population. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: A retrospective chart review was performed on all patients that presented to our institution from 2019 to 2022 for hormone implant placement, exchange, or removal with VR distraction. Demographic and procedure information was recorded. The primary outcome was successful procedure completion without requiring pharmacologic sedation or analgesia. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: A total of 111 patients underwent the following minor procedures with VR only. 14 patients underwent more than one procedure resulting in a total of 126 procedures. The mean age was 11.3 ± 3.6 years. 43 patients were female, 23 were female to male, 6 were non-binary, 7 were male, and 32 were male to female. 58% had private insurance. The most common diagnosis was precocious puberty (54%) followed by gender dysphoria (46%). The most common procedure was implant placement (72%). 69% of procedures were performed in the clinic and 31% in a procedural room. All procedures were completed without requiring sedation or GA. None of the patients required intravenous catheter placement for the procedure. No intra-procedural complications were recorded. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Despite the current trend toward minimizing GA and sedation in children, there is no widely accepted substitute. VR is a feasible option that can spare children from sedation or GA for minor procedures. This can enable procedures to be transitioned into more resource efficient settings and improve pediatric patient experience.