title: Virtual reality as a pediatric pain modulation technique: a case study.
abstract: Post-surgical pain has been consistently reported in pediatrics as being difficult to manage and limiting to surgical outcomes. Pain management of children is not ideal, and some children unable to tolerate traditional pharmacological agents. Virtual reality (VR) is a new and promising form of non-pharmacologic analgesia. This case study explored the use of VR analgesia with a 16-year-old patient with cerebral palsy participating in a twice-daily physiotherapy program following Single Event Multi-Level Surgery. Over 6 days, the patient spent half of his physiotherapy sessions using VR and the other half without (order randomized). Traditional pharmacological pain management was administered throughout the trial. Using a subjective pain scale (five faces denoting levels of pain), the patient's overall pain ratings whilst in the VR (experimental) condition were 41.2% less than those in the no-VR (control) condition. This case report provides the first evidence that VR may serve as a powerful non-pharmacologic analgesic for children following surgery.
authors.affiliation: The Centre for Allied Health Research, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia. Emily.steele@unisa.edu.au
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Steele
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Grimmer
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Barrie
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mulley
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fulton
authors.forename: Hunter
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hoffman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000698:Analgesia / Q000379:methods; D001852:Bone Lengthening / Q000009:adverse effects; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D003196:Computer Graphics; D003198:Computer Simulation; D006801:Humans; D035002:Lower Extremity / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D026201:Musculoskeletal Manipulations / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010027:Osteotomy / Q000009:adverse effects; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology; D059408:Pain Management; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000628:therapy; D013813:Therapy, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014584:User-Computer Interface