Trial reportPloS one2022
Virtual reality immersion compared to monitored anesthesia care for hand surgery: A randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 34 citations in OpenAlex.
- Virtual Reality Is Safe and Can Reduce In-Hospital Anxiety and Pain: A Systematic Review With Meta-Analyses and Trial Sequence Analyses.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2025Pooled it
- Postoperative virtual reality for recovery after bariatric surgery: study protocol for a randomised clinical trial.BJA open · 2024Trial
- Perioperative virtual reality for pain and anxiety in adult hand and wrist surgery: a systematic review.JPRAS open · 2026Review
- Virtual reality in perioperative medicine: An evidence-based systematic review and meta-analysis.Indian journal of anaesthesia · 2026Article
- Digital Doses: Virtual Reality Use for Perioperative Pain and Anxiety in Patients Undergoing Hand Surgery.Journal of hand surgery global online · 2025Article
- Virtual Reality for Perioperative Care in Cardiac Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Cureus · 2025Review
- Decreasing Preoperative Anxiety in Patients with Newly Available Multimodal Approaches-A Narrative Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Healthcare Professionals' Perceptions of Pre-, Peri-, and Postoperative Virtual Reality Immersion in Elderly Patients.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Current Clinical and Educational Uses of Immersive Reality in Anesthesia: Narrative Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Review
- Impact of virtual reality distraction during colonoscopy vs intravenous deep sedation: Results of a single-center randomized controlled trial.Endoscopy international open · 2025Article
- Article
- Virtual Reality in Awake brain Surgery (VIRAS) stage I: Proof of concept and tolerance validation during scheduled orthopedic surgery.PloS one · 2025Article
- Article
- Non-operating Room Anesthesia (NORA): A Comprehensive Review of Monitored Anesthesia Care.Cureus · 2024Review
- Virtual Reality for Pain and Anxiety Management in Cardiac Surgery and Interventional Cardiology.JACC. Advances · 2024Review
- Immersive interfaces for clinical applications: current status and future perspective.Frontiers in neurorobotics · 2024Review
- Using Immersive Virtual Reality Distraction to Reduce Fear and Anxiety before Surgery.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Application of Virtual Reality Systems in Bone Trauma Procedures.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors at 10 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionCommon anesthesia practice for hand surgery combines a preoperative regional anesthetic and intraoperative monitored anesthesia care (MAC). Despite adequate regional anesthesia, patients may receive doses of intraoperative sedatives which can result in oversedation and potentially avoidable complications. VR could prove to be a valuable tool for patients and providers by distracting the mind from processing noxious stimuli resulting in minimized sedative use and reduced risk of oversedation without negatively impacting patient satisfaction. Our hypothesis was that intraoperative VR use reduces sedative dosing during elective hand surgery without detracting from patient satisfaction as compared to a usual care control.
methodsForty adults undergoing hand surgery were randomized to receive either intraoperative VR in addition to MAC, or usual MAC. Patients in both groups received preoperative regional anesthesia at provider discretion. Intraoperatively, the VR group viewed programming of their choice via a head-mounted display. The primary outcome was intraoperative propofol dose per hour (mg · hr-1). Secondary outcomes included patient reported pain and anxiety, overall satisfaction, functional outcome, and post anesthesia care unit (PACU) length of stay (LOS).
resultsOf the 40 enrolled patients, 34 completed the perioperative portion of the trial. VR group patients received significantly less propofol per hour than the control group (Mean (±SD): 125.3 (±296.0) vs 750.6 (±334.6) mg · hr-1, p<0.001). There were no significant differences between groups in patient reported overall satisfaction, (0-100 scale, Median (IQR) 92 (77-100) vs 100 (100-100), VR vs control, p = 0.087). There were no significant differences between groups in PACU pain scores, perioperative opioid analgesic dose, or in postoperative functional outcome. PACU LOS was significantly decreased in the VR group (53.0 (43.0-72.0) vs 75.0 (57.5-89.0) min, p = 0.018).
conclusionVR immersion during hand surgery led to significant reductions in intraoperative propofol dose and PACU LOS without negatively impacting key patient reported outcomes.
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