Virtual reality can help reduce pain felt by patients treated for cancer, according to a new study.
- Virtual reality helps reduce pain related to cancer and its treatment according to researchers.
- The average reduction in pain level was 1.4 points.
- For the team, immersive virtual reality could constitute a useful non-drug strategy to combat cancer pain.
Between the cancer itself, the treatments against the disease or even the care… pain accompanies many cancer patients. Medical professionals usually try to soothe it with powerful medications like opioids. Another alternative could provide relief to patients, according to a new study published online in the journal Cancer : virtual reality.
Cancer pain: 10 minutes of virtual reality reduces suffering
For this study, researchers from Georgetown University School of Medicine and MedStar Health brought together 128 adults with cancer who had moderate or severe pain. Some of them participated in a 10-minute immersive virtual reality session where they found themselves in the middle of calm and pleasant environments. Others were offered a two-dimensional experience of guided imagery via an iPad. All volunteers were then asked about their pain level.
The results show that both devices reduced the suffering of patients. On the other hand, virtual reality (VR) sessions had a greater impact. The average reduction in pain was 1.4 compared to 0.7 with the two-dimensional images. “Twenty-four hours after the assigned intervention, participants in the VR group reported sustained improvement in pain severity (1.7 points lower than pre-intervention baseline) compared to volunteers in the VR group guided imagery (only 0.3 points lower than baseline before active control intervention)”add the scientists in a communicated.
VR users also reported being less “Genoa” by pain. They also reported less general distress.
Virtual reality: soon pain therapies at home?
“The results of this trial suggest that immersive virtual reality may be a useful non-drug strategy to improve the experience of cancer pain”, explains Dr Groninger, head of the study. For him, further research is necessary to evaluate the effects of virtual reality pain therapies in an outpatient setting or to explore the impact of different content on cancer-related suffering.
“Perhaps one day, patients with cancer pain will be prescribed VR therapy to use at home to improve their pain experience, in addition to usual cancer pain management strategies like painkillers”concludes the expert.
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