ReviewAnnals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England2023
Can virtual reality technology be considered as a part of the surgical care pathway?
Review in Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Effect of virtual reality exposure therapy for obesity on body image and food craving of overweight individuals.Journal of education and health promotion · 2026Article
- The Virtual Reality Tour: Immersive Preoperative Information for Elderly Patients.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Virtual Reality for Postoperative Pain Management: A Review of Current Evidence.Current pain and headache reports · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionVirtual reality (VR) is emerging as a new technology in the healthcare sector. It has been shown to enhance the patient's experience and satisfaction in various settings. This review aims to give a brief description of the use of VR and establish validity of its applications to improve the patient's pathway through surgery.
methodsA literature search was conducted using the PubMed and Embase™ databases to identify fields in which VR technology has been trialled in relation to surgery. The search terms 'virtual reality' and 'surgery' were employed.
resultsAlthough benefits relating to VR use have been identified in mental health, obesity management, and physical and cognitive rehabilitation, those in surgery have been less well documented. There are, however, some important but limited benefits reported in managing surgery related stress and improving preoperative patient education as well as VR being an adjunct to some level of postoperative analgesia.
conclusionsThe current applications of VR in relation to surgical care fall into four main categories: preoperative education, supporting mental health, postoperative pain management, and pre and postoperative patient optimisation. Future studies and validation of VR applications should be carried out so the technology can be utilised throughout the entire patient pathway as VR surgical care bundles.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.