A Virtual Reality-Based Preoperative Operating Room Simulation for Patients Scheduled for Oral and Maxillofacial...

Patients scheduled for surgery under general anesthesia experience significant stress, including anxiety and fear, partly because of difficulty visualizing the operating room environment; however, preoperative visits to the operating room are often impractical. In oral and maxillofacial surgery, where many patients are young, perioperative anxiety and fear are particularly important issues, yet few studies have evaluated virtual reality (VR)-based operating room visits in this field. We developed a VR-based simulated operating room tour using a three-dimensional video camera to record the transport route from the hospital ward to the central operating room. Patients viewed the VR tour on the day before surgery and subsequently completed a questionnaire evaluating realism, satisfaction, ability to visualize the surgical experience, and changes in anxiety and fear. We describe this novel VR-based operating room tour as a feasible supplementary tool for preoperative patient orientation in oral and maxillofacial surgery.