A portable virtual reality system as an alternative medical treatment to reduce pain-related anxiety in ambulatory surgical operations: a randomized controlled study

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event A portable virtual reality system as an alternative medical treatment to reduce pain-related anxiety in ambulatory surgical operations: a randomized controlled study Alessandra Gorini1, 2*, G. Riva2, 3, D. Mosso4, E. Pineda5, N. L. Ruíz4, A. Almazán4, M. Ramíez4, J L. Morales4 and J. L. Mosso4, 5 1 Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Italy 2 Maastricht University, Research Institute Brain and Behavior, Netherlands 3 Psychology Department, Catholic University of Milan, Italy 4 Panamericana University, Mexico 5 Regional Hospital No. 25 of the IMSS, Mexico Pain-related anxiety is a common problem for patients who undergo surgical operations. Since drug treatments alone have frequently proved to be inadequate to reduce stress and anxiety in surgical contexts, there is an increasing interest in non invasive complementary and alternative medical therapies (CAM) that reduce pain and tension during pre and post operative phases. Virtual reality can be considered an innovative form of CAM therapy having gained recognition as a means of attenuating pain during medical procedures. The aim of this study is to test the efficacy of a small, portable and immersive virtual reality system to reduce anxiety in a sample of patients who underwent ambulatory surgical operations. Forty-seven patients were randomly divided in three groups: the virtual reality group (VR); the Music group (MU); and the control group (CTR). Psychological and physiological measures were recorded immediately before, after 45 minutes, and after 90 minutes of operation. The results demonstrated that virtual reality is faster than music alone in reducing the patients’ perceived anxiety, suggesting that a very portable and inexpensive virtual reality system can be safe and effective in ameliorating anxiety experienced in ambulatory surgical contexts. Conference: Annual CyberTherapy and CyberPsychology 2009 conference, Villa Caramora, Italy, 21 Jun - 23 Jun, 2009. Presentation Type: Oral Presentation Topic: Oral Presentations Citation: Gorini A, Riva G, Mosso D, Pineda E, Ruíz NL, Almazán A, Ramíez M, Morales JL and Mosso JL (2009). A portable virtual reality system as an alternative medical treatment to reduce pain-related anxiety in ambulatory surgical operations: a randomized controlled study. Front. Neuroeng. Conference Abstract: Annual CyberTherapy and CyberPsychology 2009 conference. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.14.2009.06.038 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 19 Mar 2009; Published Online: 19 Mar 2009. * Correspondence: Alessandra Gorini, Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan, Italy, alessandra.gorini@unimi.it Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Alessandra Gorini G. Riva D. Mosso E. Pineda N. L Ruíz A. Almazán M. Ramíez J L Morales J. L Mosso Google Alessandra Gorini G. Riva D. Mosso E. Pineda N. L Ruíz A. Almazán M. Ramíez J L Morales J. L Mosso Google Scholar Alessandra Gorini G. Riva D. Mosso E. Pineda N. L Ruíz A. Almazán M. Ramíez J L Morales J. L Mosso PubMed Alessandra Gorini G. Riva D. Mosso E. Pineda N. L Ruíz A. Almazán M. Ramíez J L Morales J. L Mosso Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.