Using head-mounted augmented and virtual reality devices for anaesthesia education: a scoping review

Head-mounted devices (HMDs) have been explored in anaesthesia education for their unique ability to have head-tracked immersive simulations adaptable to diverse clinical scenarios. This scoping review examines how HMD-based augmented or virtual reality enhances anaesthetic skill learning in clinicians, trainees, and students. Excluding patient-user focused studies, 22 articles addressed airway management, neuraxial and regional anaesthetic procedures, vascular access, and practice scenarios. Overall, HMDs improved engagement, knowledge retention, and user confidence, with some evidence of improved procedural performance, but technical limitations and difficulty adopting new technology persist. Airway studies reported improved recall and confidence. Neuraxial training suggested improved skill acquisition and needle placement. Regional anaesthesia training was as effective or superior to conventional methods while requiring fewer instructors. HMD-assisted vascular and central venous training reduced head movement but had mixed efficiency outcomes. Virtual scenario simulations using HMDs were engaging, but sometimes difficult to interact with. Despite promising findings, heterogenous methodologies, lack of control groups, and limited long-term results limit definitive conclusions on HMD superiority over conventional teaching, indicating a need for larger multicentre trials. Future research should standardise study design in comparison with conventional teaching, evaluate learning curves, technical limitations, cost-effectiveness, and investigate HMD-based team training. HMDs in their current form as devices with an immature technology and software base serve best as complementary, not replacement, simulation tools.