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Study: Patients immersed in virtual reality during surgery need less anesthesia

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A recent study published in pro swan A study conducted by researchers at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center found that using virtual reality during hand surgery significantly reduced intraoperative anesthesia without adversely affecting patient-reported outcomes became.

In a small, 8-month, randomized controlled trial, researchers evaluated 34 patients undergoing hand surgery and the amount of anesthesia administered intraoperatively with or without the use of VR.

The VR group consumed significantly less propofol per hour than the control group. Of note, post-anesthetic unit (PACU) length of stay was significantly reduced in the VR group, with patients being discharged from the PACU 22 min earlier than control patients.

Patients were divided into a control group, who underwent anesthesia as recommended by an anesthesiologist during surgery, and a VR group, who watched selected programming via a virtual reality headset and noise-cancelling headphones.

Virtual programming provided by a telemedicine VR clinic company XRHealth is designed to promote relaxation and tranquility, whether it’s peaceful meadows, forests or mountain peaks. Patients can also listen to guided meditations in an immersive environment or choose from a library of videos in a web-based user interface that appears as a theater screen surrounded by a “starry sky” backdrop.

why it matters

A common method of anesthesia during hand surgery combines local anesthesia administered before surgery with supervised anesthesia management during surgery.

Patients are anesthetized preoperatively, but additional anesthesia may be required during surgery, which can lead to excessive sedation and avoidable complications.

The investigators of the above study concluded that “VR can reduce the risk of over-sedation by minimizing the use of sedatives without negatively impacting patient satisfaction, thereby reducing the risk of over-sedation and the handling of noxious stimuli. By diverting , it may prove to be a valuable tool for patients and providers.”

However, they reported limitations within the study, including recognizing that participants may have reduced sedation dosages. There may also be selection bias, as it may not generalize to

Also, the providers in this study were not blinded, which may have contributed to the dramatic differences in propofol dosages between the groups, write the researchers.

“Because bias can affect both of these results, our results should be interpreted as preliminary and require validation in future trials. Given these limitations, our results suggest that current anesthesia practice in VR-immersive hand surgery provides evidence that VR is an effective pain management modality or is superior to other distraction techniques. It won’t,” said the researchers.

the bigger trend

Augmented reality (i.e. virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality) is currently It is used in many ways in the operating room to influence patients and surgeons.

Surgeons use augmented reality technology in the following ways: Augmedics’ xvision system for spine surgery. Augmedics’ technology allows the surgeon to view her 3D model of a patient’s spine during implant surgery, demonstrating a percutaneous screw placement accuracy of 99.1%.

Precision XR’s Surgical Theater allows surgeons to visualize the surgical experience by inputting 3D imaging models into virtual reality. The provider will perform a conventional scan (MRI, CT scan, etc.) of the patient’s body. That scan is reconstructed into a 3D image of her in virtual reality, which the surgeon can analyze in detail and prepare for surgery.

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