Virtual Reality Based Guided Meditation for Patients with Opioid Tolerance and Opioid Use Disorders

The management of acute pain in patients with pre-existing opioid tolerance or opioid use disorders presents unique challenges. In light of the concerns regarding opioid use, safe and effective alternatives to opioid medications are of increasing interest.

This study was conducted to determine if the use of guided meditation delivered through immersive virtual reality can reduce pain in patients with opioid tolerance or opioid use disorders, including opioid abuse or opioid dependence.

A quasi-experimental pre-test and post-test study design was used.

A 31-bed inpatient orthopedic/trauma unit in the southeastern United States.

Subjects of the pilot study were hospitalized adults over the age of 18 with pre-existing opioid tolerance or opioid use disorder who were experiencing acute pain.

This pilot study examined the effect of a 10-minute guided meditation activity through immersive virtual reality on the reported acute pain of hospitalized adults (n = 11) with pre-existing opioid tolerance or opioid use disorders. The Calm® application on an Oculus Go® virtual reality head-mounted display was used for the meditation activity.

Before the intervention, the mean patient-reported pain rating was 6.68, and the mean pain score after the virtual reality experience was 3.36. Using the Wilcoxon signed rank test, this was a statistically significant difference (p = .003). Patients were also observed and queried regarding any significant side effects or other incidental findings, none of which were reported.

This study demonstrates that the use of guided meditation through virtual reality can result in statistically significant reductions in patient-reported pain scores.