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Virtual Reality MObility for Burn Patients

Pediatric Burns

Background

In the acute phase, burn patients undergo several painful procedures. Pediatric burn care procedures conducted in hydrotherapy have been known to generate severe pain intensity and moderate to high levels of anxiety. Hydrotherapy treatments are done with the use of opioids and benzodiazepines for pain and anxiety. Unfortunately, non-pharmacological methods are rarely combined with pharmacological treatments despite evidence showing that distraction can serve as an effective method for pain management and can potentially decrease analgesic requirements in other painful medical procedures. Virtual Reality (VR) is a method that uses distraction to interact within a virtual environment. The use of VR is promising for pain reduction in varying settings. Considering the lack of optimal pain and anxiety management during burn wound care and the positive effect of an immersive distraction for painful procedures, using VR for burn wound care procedures may show promising results.

Methods

This is a within-subject randomized controlled trial design in which each participant will serve as his/her own control. A minimum of 20 participants, aged 7 to 17 years old undergoing a burn care session, will receive both standard and experimental treatments during the same session in a randomized order. The experimental treatment will consist of combining VR distraction using the video game Dreamland® to the current standard pharmacological care as per unit protocol. The control group will only receive the unit's standard pharmacological care. The mean difference in both pain intensity scores and in anxiety between the two different sequences will be the primary outcomes of this study.

Conclusion

This study evaluates the effect of VR on burn wound care. If results from this study show a positive effect of VR compared to standard care, this protocol may provide guidance on how to implement this type of immersive care as part of the tools available for distraction of painful procedures for acute burn victims.

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Participation Requirements

  • Sex:

    ALL

  • Eligible Ages:

    6 to 17

Participation Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

* Between the ages of 6 to 17 years and suffering from a burn injury requiring hydrotherapy, physiotherapy or occupational therapy care
* Presence of a consenting parent who can understand, read and write either French or English.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Have a diagnosed cognitive impairment precluding them from playing a virtual reality game
* Suffer from epilepsy considering the nature of the intervention
* Have burn injuries on the face preventing the use of the Oculus Quest Helmet
* Cannot be in a sitting or semi-upright sitting position (semi-Fowler's position) during the procedure as the virtual reality game requires an angle of at least 30 degrees for head-tracking. Participants who received analgesics (e.g. acetaminophen, ibuprofen) or anxiolytics (e.g. benzodiazepines) during the last 4 hours prior to the procedure will not be excluded but the name of medication, dosage and time of administration will be documented in the data collection form.

Study Location

St. Justine's Hospital
St. Justine's Hospital
Montréal, Quebec
Canada

Contact Study Team

Primary Contact

Sylvie Le May, PhD

[email protected]
514-345-4931
Study Sponsored By
St. Justine's Hospital
Participants Required
More Information
Study ID: NCT04538573