Can we use Virtual Reality Games as Pain-relievers for Burn Injuries?

Children might experience severe pain when they undergo regular dressing changes for burn injuries. New research explored the possible use of virtual reality games as an alternative to painkillers in relieving the pain from burn injuries.

Burn injuries are the most painful ones as they trigger severe pain and irritation that persists for a long time. When it comes to children, the pain extends beyond the injuries as they find it very difficult to undergo regular dressing changes in the burnt area.

As per the reports of the American Burn Association, approximately 250,000 children are being affected by burn injuries in the United States each year. Usually, opioids are suggested as pain-relievers for burn injury-related pain, but the adverse effects caused by them made scientists investigate some alternative approaches in reducing the pain. These include approaches based on distraction, such as music, hypnosis, toys, and virtual reality (VR).

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‘Virtual reality games could be efficiently used as an alternative to opioids in relieving the pain from burn injuries. Participants who played the VR games reported significantly lower overall pain than participants in the standard care control group.’

A new study led by Dr. Henry Xiang, a professor of pediatrics and epidemiology at Nationwide Children's Hospital sought to find whether active smartphone virtual reality (VR) games are more effective than standard care for pain management in pediatric burn injuries.

As the results showed positive outcomes, Dr. Xiang said, "The smartphone-based VR game was very effective in reducing patient-reported pain."

The study consisted of 90 children, aged 6 to 17 years in three treatment groups: active VR, passive VR, and standard care. The VR game was specifically designed for the study in such a way that the players recognize a cooling environment within the game and feel space for active engagement. After the five to six minutes of dressing changes, the participants along with their caregivers reported about the user experience of the game and the intensity of perceived pain.

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As per the findings of the study published in the journal JAMA network open , the researchers found that

• Participants in the active VR group had reported significantly lower overall pain compared with participants in the standard care control group.

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• The active VR group also had a lower worst pain score than both the passive VR group and the standard care group.

"The future research direction is to evaluate whether smartphone-based VR games have an opioid-sparing effect," added Dr. Xiang.

Burns
Burn injuries have reached epidemic proportions in recent years. Burn accident statistics show that at least 50% of all burn accidents can be prevented.

As smartphones could be effective and space-saving, this study has overcome the bulkiness issue from previous research that insisted on the use of computer games. Nurses also considered that these types of virtual games could be clinically useful in outpatient settings.

Source-Medindia