Virtual Reality as a Nonpharmacologic Therapy for Pain in Patients With Cancer

In a prospective randomized controlled trial, researchers found that virtual reality (VR) distraction therapy significantly reduced cancer-related pain in hospitalized patients compared with two-dimensional guided imagery.

Hospitalized patients with cancer frequently experience moderate-to-severe pain, but the effectiveness of nonpharmacologic interventions like VR has not been previously studied in this population. This trial was conducted to evaluate whether VR could provide pain relief than traditional distraction techniques.

Hospitalized patients with cancer were randomized to receive either 10 minutes of immersive VR or 10 minutes of guided imagery via tablet. Both groups reported improvement in pain levels, but the VR group experienced a significantly greater reduction in pain immediately after the intervention (P = .03). This pain relief was sustained for 24 hours (P = .004). VR was also associated with improvements in pain bothersomeness (P = .05) and general distress (P = .03).

Limitations of the study include the short duration of the intervention and the single-center design.

“Among hospitalized adult patients with moderate-severe pain related to cancer and cancer therapies, VR provided more nonpharmacologic pain relief than active control and this benefit sustained long after conclusion of the intervention,” the study authors concluded.

Reference

Groninger H, Violanti D, Mete M. Virtual reality for pain management in hospitalized patients with cancer. Cancer. 2024;130(14)2552-2560. doi:10.1002/cncr.35282