Effective postoperative pain-management is crucial for patients’ overall recovery process. Traditionally, opioids and painkiller prescriptions were the central elements of pain management because of their effectiveness. However, using them can lead to nasty side-effects such as: nausea, dizziness, and constipation; moreover, the regular use of these painkillers can further develop into an addiction.
A study from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine showed that in 2015 there were 2 million Americans over 12 years old that had an opioid use disorder (National Academy of Sciences, 2019).
Virtual reality (VR) is a technology that has been drawing a lot of attention from the medical community as an effective complement and, in many cases, a clear substitute
of opioid prescription for pain management.
XRHealth
XRHealth’s FDA cleared and HIPPA compliant platform (VRHealth™) include 9 in-house-developed apps and a growing network of partner-developed apps that together provide a full suite of immersive environments that improve patients’ therapeutic experience. Specifically, two of these applications help the patient with pain relief and management through meditation (Relax8™) and by stimulating the brain for improved healing process (Luna™). Furthermore, XRHealth’s Data Analysis Portal translates in real-time the patients’ sessions into meaningful insights, to better
understand their progress.
VRHealth has been successfully introduced as part of the pain management solution of several healthcare providers. Contact us to know more about how more about our client’s success stories and how we can find the right solution to your problem.
How Virtual Reality is used today
A study conducted by the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern Carolina showed that patients using VR during burn care, cancer or routine medical procedures experienced less unpleasantness, anxiety, and pain levels. VR was able to reduce perceived pain by 34% for patients experiencing worst pain levels, together with a 46% reduction of unpleasantness (Li et al., 2012).
Another research showed that, overall, patients reported powered pain levels by 60-70% during VR sessions, and 30-50% immediately afterwards. Contrasting with a 30% max decrease that morphine had in either scenario (Marchant, 2017).
Implementing VR as part of a pain management program can also bring financial benefits to healthcare providers. A study done by the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles showed that by using VR, hospitals reduce the number of opioids prescribed, length of stay after surgery, as well as staff time. These improved
efficiencies help hospitals cut costs by up to $110 per patient (Delshad et al., 2018).
The research also found that patients using VR as part of their pain management therapy where 90% more likely to rate the highest scores, which translates into an extra $2 in reimbursement per patient (Delshad et al., 2018).
Want to know more of how we help hospitals and clinics with successful operations and better post-op. procedures? Contact us today
Sources:
Delshad, S.D., Almario, C.V., Fuller, G., Luong, D., Spiegel, B.M. 2018. Economic analysis of implementing virtual reality therapy for pain among hospitalized patients. Retrieved on July 2019, from: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41746-018-0026-4
Li, A., Montatño, Z., Chen, V.J., Gold, J.I. 2011. Virtual Reality and Pain Management:
Current Trends and Future Directions. Retrieved on July, 2019 from:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3138477/
Marchant, J. 2017. How VR could break America’s opioid addiction. Retrieved on July
2019, from:
https://mosaicscience.com/story/vr-could-break-americas-opioid-addiction/
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2019. Medications for opioid use disorder save lives. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
Retrieved on July 2019 form:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK538936/
