Virtual reality as an adjunctive pain control during transurethral microwave thermotherapy

The management of pain during clinic transurethral microwave thermotherapy (TUMT) can be challenging. Pain can lead to increased pelvic blood flow, which dissipates the energy delivered, limiting the amount of heat delivered to the prostate. In this report, we describe the novel use of virtual reality distraction as an adjunctive mechanism for local anesthesia during TUMT in a 67-year-old man. This report is novel in being, to our knowledge, the first to demonstrate the efficacy of virtual reality in an elderly patient and the first documented use for a urologic clinic procedure. We believe it is also the first to demonstrate efficacy for the control of thermally induced pain.