• Nassim Touil, Athanasia Pavlopoulou, Mona Momeni, Benoît Van Pee, Olivier Barbier, Luc Sermeus, and Fabienne Roelants.
• Department of Anesthesiology, Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc, UCLouvain, Brussels, Belgium.
• Int. J. Clin. Pract. 2021 Dec 1; 75 (12): e15008.

AimsPreoperative anxiety, which can affect postoperative recovery, is often present in patients undergoing surgery under loco-regional anaesthesia (LRA). Minimising preoperative anxiety with premedication can be effective but results in drug-related side effects. Therefore, the use of non-pharmacological techniques should be encouraged.MethodsWe evaluated whether a virtual reality (VR) incorporating music and a hypnosis session, provided during the performance of LRA, can reduce preoperative anxiety. Fifty patients scheduled for elective hand surgery under an axillary plexus block were enrolled (March-June 2019). The primary outcome measure was the change in the Amsterdam Anxiety and Preoperative Information Scale (APAIS) questionnaire 5 min after the VR session as compared to before the VR session. The secondary outcome measures were the visual analog scale (VAS) for anxiety before and 2 h after the surgery and the Evaluation du Vécu de l'ANesthésie-LocoRégionale (EVAN-LR) satisfaction score.ResultsData from 48 patients were analysed. The APAIS score as well as VAS for anxiety were significantly reduced after a VR session (p < .001 for both scores). Patients were very satisfied (EVAN-LR: 92 (88, 94)).ConclusionsThe use of VR incorporating music and a hypnosis session could be an effective tool in the management of a patient's preoperative anxiety during the performance of an axillary plexus block.© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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