The effect of virtual reality on postoperative anxiety and pain in patients following cardiac surgery: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract OBJECTIVES The VRECOVERY investigated the impact of virtual reality (VR) distraction therapy on postoperative pain, anxiety and quality of recovery in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting surgery. METHODS A single-centre randomized controlled trial was conducted involving 192 participants, allocated to either the intervention or control group. Participants in the intervention group received VR distraction therapy on postoperative days 1, 2 and 3, while the control group received standard postoperative care. Primary outcomes were measured in both groups directly following the VR sessions of the intervention group. Outcomes included (i) postoperative pain [Numeric Rating Scale (NRS)], (ii) postoperative anxiety [State Trait Anxiety Inventory 6 questionnaire (STAI-6)] and (iii) quality of postoperative recovery [Quality of Recovery 15 questionnaire (QoR-15)]. RESULTS A total of 100 participants completed the study, including 39 patients (mean age 69.1 ± 7.7 years) in the intervention group and 61 patients (mean age 66.8 ± 8.2 years) in the control group. Eighty-nine percent of participants was male. VR-distraction therapy demonstrated a significant difference in postoperative pain decrease between groups (NRS score; intervention group −1.45/day vs control group −0.73/day, P = 0.007), and an important overall difference in postoperative anxiety slopes (STAI-6 score; intervention group −0.60/day vs control group +0.09/day, P = 0.06). There was no effect observed on postoperative quality of recovery (P = 0.11). CONCLUSIONS The VRECOVERY trial suggests a beneficial impact of VR distraction therapy in reducing postoperative pain. There was no significant effect on postoperative anxiety and quality of recovery.