Virtual reality as a strategy for intra-operatory anxiolysis and pharmacological sparing in patients undergoing...

Virtual reality (VR) has increasingly found applications beyond leisure and video games, extending into the field of medicine. Recent studies indicate that VR can effectively reduce anxiety and pain in pediatric patients undergoing uncomfortable medical procedures, such as burn wound care. Yet, VR use in the operating room is still rare, despite a growing trend toward regional anesthesia without general anesthesia; physicians still frequently rely on pharmacological sedation to manage procedural anxiety. By leveraging VR's anxiolytic properties, it may be possible to decrease the need for intravenous (IV) sedation which is associated with risk of adverse events like apnea and hypoxemia and delayed recovery.

This study's main objective is to determine the impact of VR on IV sedation requirements in adult patients undergoing breast surgery under paravertebral (PV) block without general anesthesia. We will be using Paperplane Therapeutics' VR headset and software which offer three distinct VR scenario choices. We hypothesize that VR immersion will reduce the need for intraoperative pharmacological sedation. Secondary objectives include assessing the tolerance of patients to the VR headset, examining the impact of the chosen VR scenario on the primary outcome, evaluating the incidence of adverse effects, measuring patient satisfaction, and analyzing the output of the Nociception Level (NOL) Index among awake surgical patients.

This single center randomized controlled trial will enroll 100 patients aged 18 or above undergoing breast surgery under PV block. Participants will be randomly allocated to the VR group or the control group; both will have access to pharmacological sedation through patient-controlled sedation (PCS). Participants in the VR group will choose between three different VR scenarios and will be allowed to switch between these scenarios during surgery. The primary outcome will be the time-adjusted and weight adjusted dose of self-administered intraoperative propofol. Secondary outcomes will include patient satisfaction, adverse events, and post-anesthesia care unit length of stay (PACU LOS).

This trial has been approved by the regional ethics committee (Comité d'Éthique de la Recherche du CIUSSS de l'Est de l'Île de Montréal) on September 9th, 2024.

ClinicalTrials.gov (July 25th, 2024). Unique protocol ID: 2025-3802. Trial identification number: NCT06522711.