Effects of Virtual Reality on Analgesia in Wound Care and Physical Therapy for Burn Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Objectives

This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to determine the effectiveness of virtual reality (VR) in alleviating pain and improving the experience of burn patients during wound care and physical therapy.

Design

A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Data Sources

PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Database, and the Web of Science.

Review/Analysis Methods

We searched four electronic databases for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published from the earliest available date up to March 1, 2022. The primary outcome was worst pain intensity, while secondary outcomes encompassed pain unpleasantness intensity, time spent thinking about pain, and fun experience intensity. Risk of bias was evaluated using the Cochrane Collaboration's tool.

Results

This study included 21 trials. The combined data revealed that the VR group experienced a significant reduction in worst pain intensity, pain unpleasantness intensity, and time spent thinking about pain compared to the control group. Moreover, VR treatment was associated with a significant increase in the fun experience intensity.

Implications for nursing

Virtual reality has the potential value of auxiliary analgesia in burn care, and exploring a more perfect scheme of VR-assisted analgesia is worthwhile.

Conclusions

The results of this meta-analysis indicate that VR can effectively reduce worst pain intensity, pain unpleasantness intensity, and time spent thinking about pain during wound care and physical therapy for burn patients. Additionally, it enhances fun experience intensity of the treatment period. Therefore, VR shows promise as a valuable complementary pain management intervention for burn patients.