Virtual Reality for Postoperative Robotic Colorectal Patients
Background: Virtual reality (VR) a 3-diminential immersion experience allows for multiple sensory experiences involving visual and auditory olfactory senses. VR has shown success in the pediatric population in reducing procedural pain. Limited research is available to support VR use in adult patients.
Design: Our interdisciplinary team of Gastroenterologists, surgical nurses, and a researcher explored the feasibility and effectiveness of an innovative device VR in middle to older adults following robotic colorectal surgery with a mean hospital length-of-stay of 2.5 days. A prospective self-controlled intervention study of Nf10 postoperative patients with a pain score of at least 3 on a scale from 0-10 was provided a VR headset in their room to use at least 3 times a day and on-demand per their preferences from September 2020 to February 2021.
Results: Patients (Nf10) had an average age of 61.9. The genders were balanced. 80% of patients were white. The patients had a median length of stay of 3 days (Q1-Q3 = [2, 7]). The average pain score was 3.89 (SD=1.40). For each patient, the VR usage rate on average is 3.5. Patients answered an average of 4.08 (Somewhat Satisfied) to questions of “How satisfied were you with the VR experience?”; 4.29 (Somewhat Effective) to the question of “How effective was VR in relieving your patient’s pain?”; on a scale from 0-5. Stratifying patients, we found in the entertainment/diversion-only group, length of stay and questions 2, 3 are positively correlated. In pain patients, VR usage rate and VR satisfaction are shown to be strongly positively correlated. We stratified the population into 1) patients who ONLY used VR for diversion/entertainment, and 2) patients who ever used VR for pain (note that this group could have used VR for entertainment as well). We found patients who used VR for entertainment only are younger, tend to be males, had a shorter length of stay, had less pain, had a higher VR access rate, and are more satisfied with VR
Conclusion: This feasibility initially supports positive outcomes in adult postoperative patients. Our Interprofessional team of surgeons, nurses, and innovation researchers worked to meet the needs of our patients through state-of-the-art VR technology.
Lessons learned: An interdisciplinary team is effective in identifying older adults that could benefit from new technology to reduce pain and provide an entertainment diversion due to patients not being able to have visitors during their hospital stay.
