Monitoring pain during use of virtual reality in debridement procedures of vascular wounds in outpatient care settings

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Source: Frontiers Medicine

Original: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2025.1658190...

Published: 2025-12-03T00:00:00Z

A study investigated the effectiveness of virtual reality (VR) in reducing pain during debridement of difficult-to-heal vascular wounds in ambulatory care. The study involved 100 patients with an average age of 68 years who had wounds lasting an average of 7.16 months. Patients were divided into two groups - one used VR glasses during the procedure and the other received standard care without VR. During wound cleaning, pain intensity was higher in the control group (4.94 points) compared to the VR group (4.32 points), confirming that VR glasses reduce perceived pain. Ten minutes after the procedure, pain was similar in both groups. The study found that the duration and size of the wound affected the level of pain before treatment, while the gender of the patient had no effect on pain intensity. The results suggest that VR glasses are an effective non-pharmacological means of reducing pain during painful medical procedures.