Virtual Reality as a Nonpharmacological Tool for Acute Pain Management: A Scoping Review

Acute pain (AP) is a prevalent symptom in hospital settings, affecting up to 84 percent of the patients seeking healthcare services. It significantly impacts an individual's quality of life, with inadequate management resulting in slower recovery, increased cost of care, and a greater risk of developing chronic pain. While pharmacological approaches are effective, they are associated with numerous side effects, including nausea, addiction, and the possibility of fatal overdoses. Given this, virtual reality (VR) offers an innovative avenue to manage AP effectively while minimizing the effects of drugs.

This study aims to map the extent of literature on utilizing VR as a tool for the nonpharmacological management of AP. Specifically, this review attempts to understand the characteristics of the populations using VR for AP management, the technical specifications and mechanisms used to alleviate AP, and the overall effectiveness of VR in managing AP.

A scoping review was conducted to identify literature from the following electronic databases: PubMed, ScienceDirect, ERIC, and Google Scholar. To be included in this review, articles had to focus on AP in both adult and pediatric populations and address AP using VR in any clinical or care setting. The search was limited to peer-reviewed, English-language, quantitative research articles published between 2000 and 2024.

A total of 97 studies were identified. Sixty-six percent of studies demonstrated the efficacy of VR as an analgesic, outperforming traditional nonpharmacological approaches (eg, standard of care, mobile phones). Distraction was the most effective VR mechanism for pain management, showing efficacy in 86.9 percent of studies. The most common focus was on needle-related pain (30.9%), followed by dental and perioperative pain (15.5% each). VR was most effective in wound care (87.5%), followed by labor-related (83.33%) and dental (80%) pain.

VR is a promising tool for managing AP, offering considerable benefits in terms of patient care, patient experience, and reduction in drug-related side effects. The high efficacy rates for wound care, labor-related pain, and dental pain highlight the potential for VR to be integrated into standard pain management protocols. However, further research, with rigorous research design, is required to standardize VR interventions and optimize their effectiveness across different patient populations and pain contexts.