SynthesisFrontiers in medicine2026
The effects of virtual reality on pain relief in ICU patients: meta-analysis and systematic review.
Synthesis in Frontiers in medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Addressing challenges for virtual reality applications in the ICU.Journal of anesthesia, analgesia and critical care · 2026Article
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
Background: Pain is common in conscious ICU patients, with over 50% experiencing mild to severe pain from procedures, disease, or routine care. Virtual reality (VR) interventions may help reduce pain, but evidence remains inconsistent, and their effect on analgesic use is unclear. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to evaluate the impact of virtual reality technology or intervention on pain levels and analgesic dosage in adult ICU patients. Methods: Relevant literature published from January 2015 to February 2026 in PubMed and eight other electronic databases has been comprehensively searched. The Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool and Joanna Briggs Institute checklist were applied for quality assessment of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-experimental studies (QES), respectively. The data analysis was conducted using R studio (4.5.2). The GRADE system was employed to evaluate the certainty of evidence. Results: Thirteen studies involving 979 patients were included. Meta-analysis of seven clinical studies (7 RCTs) demonstrated that head-mounted VR devices delivering 360°relaxing nature scenes significantly reduced pain scores compared to conventional care[ Conclusion: Nature-based, distraction-focused VR appears to confer additional analgesic benefit for ICU patients, especially around brief high-intensity procedures. However, given the complexity of pain sources in the ICU, variations in study design, and the diversity of VR content, its true impact on ICU pain and the demand for analgesic medications should still be continually validated. Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD420251231605, PROSPERO, registration number: CRD420251231605.
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.