Plastic and reconstructive surgery
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Plast. Reconstr. Surg. · Aug 2019
Randomized Controlled TrialVirtual Reality Improves the Patient Experience during Wide-Awake Local Anesthesia No Tourniquet Hand Surgery: A Single-Blind, Randomized, Prospective Study.
Wide-awake local anesthesia no tourniquet surgery has been shown to decrease cost and hospital length of stay. The authors studied the use of virtual reality during wide-awake local anesthesia no tourniquet outpatient upper extremity surgery to assess its effect on patient pain, anxiety and fun. Patients undergoing wide-awake local anesthesia no tourniquet surgery were randomized to use (virtual reality) or not use (non-virtual reality) virtual reality during their procedures. ⋯ This study demonstrates that readily available virtual reality hardware and software can provide a virtual reality experience that reduces patient anxiety both during the injection of local anesthesia and during the surgical procedure. (Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 144: 408, 2019.) CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE:: Therapeutic, II.