Impact of Virtual Reality on Anxiety in Patients Undergoing Interventional Procedures

Launched by NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · Feb 15, 2023

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is studying how virtual reality (VR) can help reduce anxiety in patients who are about to undergo a specific type of pain relief procedure called cervical epidural steroid injection (ESI). Many patients feel anxious before these procedures, so the researchers want to see if using an immersive VR experience can significantly lower their anxiety levels compared to patients who do not use VR and just wait in the clinic. They hope to find that VR will help more patients feel calmer before their treatment.

To take part in this study, participants should be between 18 and 80 years old, have neck pain that requires the ESI treatment, and be willing to use VR before their procedure. They should not have had this injection before, and they shouldn’t be taking certain medications or have specific health conditions that could interfere with the study. Those who join the trial can expect to either experience a VR session or wait normally before their procedure, allowing researchers to compare the effects on their anxiety. This trial is currently recruiting participants, and everyone is welcome to apply, regardless of gender.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Age 18-80 years old at day of enrollment
• • Neck pain patient deemed to be a candidate for pain control treatment with interventional fluoroscopically guided cervical epidural steroid injection as determined by their pain medicine provider based on history, physical exam, and radiographic findings
• • Willingness to undergo pre-procedural intervention of VR viewing experience or equivalent pre-procedural wait time
• • No history of prior epidural steroid injections
• • Did not receive sedatives prior to or during procedure
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Refusal / inability to participate or provide consent
• • Contraindications to injection (anticoagulated states, allergy to components of injection, local infection at injection site, current infectious process or treatment of antibiotics for current infection)
• • Uncontrolled anxiety disorder or untreated/inadequately treated psychiatric disorder
• • History of Alzheimer's, dementia, or cognitive dysfunction
• • Patient currently taking benzodiazepines
• • Severe motion sickness
• • Seizure disorder
• • Vision loss
• • Non-English speaking patients