NCT06089642

Virtual Reality Therapy for Pain Management at the Emergency Department

• Status: Unknown
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 124 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Radboud University Medical Center · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 16 Years – 99 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Rationale: Prescriptions of analgesics, especially opioids, have doubled in the Emergency department (ED) over the past decades in response to frequently reported undertreatment of pain in ED patients. Consequently, there is a shift towards a more restrained utilisation of opioids at the ED. However, there are still few (non-)pharmacological alternatives. Virtual Reality (VR) therapy is a relatively new and promising technique in non-pharmacologic pain reduction and anxiolysis and shows positive results on pain relief and pain. Objective: Primary objective is to investigate the effect of VR on patient-reported pain outcomes in the ED. Secondary objectives are to investigate the effect of VR on analgesics use, patient-reported outcomes, and process indicators and to identify barriers to implementation. Last, subanalyses will be performed to compare the effectiveness of two types of VR: VR based on distraction (VRD) and VR based on focussed attention (VRF). Study design: randomized controlled trial. Study population: Adults admitted to the ED with a NRS pain score of 4 (out of ten) or more and unacceptable pain. Intervention: There will be a control group receiving usual care and a intervention group that receives additional VR therapy. Main study parameters/endpoints: The main study outcome is the difference in patient-reported NRS pain score.

Conditions

• Pain, Acute

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	Virtual reality	Virtual reality based on distraction and Virtual Reality based on focussed attention

Timeline

• Start date: 2023-12-01
• Primary completion: 2025-04-01
• Completion: 2025-04-01
• First posted: 2023-10-18
• Last updated: 2024-04-12

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Netherlands