Virtual Reality for Post-operative Pain Management

February 2, 2023 updated by: Chantel Burkitt, Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare

A Randomized Controlled Trial of Virtual Reality for Pain Management in the Post-Operative Period Following Orthopedic Surgery

Use an RCT study design to measure pain experience, medication use, medical side effects, and length of hospital stay with and without availability of VR following spine fusion surgery

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

The purpose of this study is to prospectively assess the utility of virtual reality (VR) for pain and anxiety management in the post-operative period following major orthopedic surgery. While there is substantial evidence supporting the use of VR during dressing changes for burn victims, there is little known about VR use in post-surgical settings. In the proposed study, patients will be randomized to either receive VR in addition to standard of care or to receive only standard of care during their post-operative care following spinal fusion surgery for idiopathic scoliosis or neuromuscular scoliosis.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
48

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Minnesota
      • Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, 55101
        • Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

6 years to 17 years (CHILD)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patient is having a spinal fusion at Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare
  • Patient with a diagnosis of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) or a diagnosis of neuromuscular scoliosis

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Non-English speaking parents/patients
  • Patients with history of motion sickness
  • Patients with epilepsy
  • Patients with a ventricular shunt
  • Patients with severe/profound cognitive impairments

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE
  • Allocation: RANDOMIZED
  • Interventional Model: PARALLEL
  • Masking: NONE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
EXPERIMENTAL: Virtual Reality Post Spinal Fusion
Patients randomized to the VR group will have the opportunity to utilize VR during the post operative period, and will also experience VR during research visits each day following surgery.
Device: Virtual Reality
Participants randomized to the VR condition will experience an an immersive guided relaxation VR experience during research visits in the post-operative period. They will also have the opportunity to choose additional VR games and relaxation experiences during their inpatient stay.
NO_INTERVENTION: Standard of Care
Patients randomized to the non-VR condition will experience the usual standard of care following spinal fusion surgery. This will include 15-30 minutes of movie viewing during research visits.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Timing of pain medication
Time Frame: 4 days
Timing of morphine equivalent opioids (mg/kg/day) and adjunctive medications (e.g., Tylenol, Diazepam, Propofol, Midazolam, etc.; mg/kg/day).This will be collected retrospectively from the patient medical record following the conclusion of treatment.
4 days
Doses of pain medication
Time Frame: 4 days
Doses of morphine equivalent opioids (mg/kg/day) and adjunctive medications (e.g., Tylenol, Diazepam, Propofol, Midazolam, etc.; mg/kg/day).This will be collected retrospectively from the patient medical record following the conclusion of treatment.
4 days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Parents' Postoperative Pain Measure
Time Frame: 4 days
The Parents' Postoperative Pain Measure (PPPM-SF) is a measure of pain-related behavioral changes. The PPPM-SF is 10 question yes/no scale, covering functional interference (5 items) and pain behaviors (5 items) and asks parents to compare the child's behaviors with their typical behavior. Each score of "yes" is counted as 1-point, yielding a total score of 0-10 (higher scores indicating higher pain intensity). Parents will complete this measure daily until their child is discharged from the hospital.
4 days
Faces Pain Scale-Revised
Time Frame: 4 days
The Faces Pain Scale-Revised (FPS-R) will be used to assess pain intensity in the post-operative period (for 1-6 days, depending on the length of inpatient stay) for the purposes of this study. The FPS-R will be used to assess pain intensity (faces indicating 0-10 pain scale, 0 face indicating no pain, 10 equals very much pain) "right now" and will be completed by the patient and parent (when present) at the beginning of each daily research visit for both the VR and non-VR groups. The VR group will complete the FPS-R again following the research facilitated VR session. For consistency purposes, parents will also be asked to report their perception of the patient's pain using the FPS-R.
4 days
Visual analogue scale
Time Frame: 4 days
A visual analogue scale (VAS) will be used to quantify multiple aspects of the treatment experience expected to be impacted by the use of VR. The VAS will be a 10 cm 0-100 scale (0 indicating no pain, 100 indicating very much pain), will be completed once per day by both the VR and non-VR groups, and will reflect the past 24 hour period. Participants and their parents in the VR condition will complete the VAS a second time each day following the research facilitated VR experience (second VAS will reflect the past 15 minutes). The VAS will assess the following: patient anxiety; parent anxiety; patient and parent time spent thinking about pain; pain unpleasantness; average pain rating; pain rating right now; worst pain rating; least pain rating; engagement during VR (VR group only); and satisfaction with pain management.
4 days
Length of stay
Time Frame: 4 days
Length of inpatient stay following surgery (collected from medical record)
4 days
Pain assessment scores
Time Frame: 4 days
Nursing pain assessment scores (collected from medical record)
4 days
Time patient out of bed
Time Frame: 4 days
Duration of time from surgery to patient out of bed and walking (collected from medical record).
4 days

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Chantel Barney, PhD, Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (ACTUAL)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
January 30, 2019

Primary Completion (ANTICIPATED)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
December 1, 2023

Study Completion (ANTICIPATED)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
December 1, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
June 11, 2018

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
June 29, 2018

First Posted (ACTUAL)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
July 12, 2018

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ACTUAL)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
February 6, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
February 2, 2023

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
February 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • STUDY00003725

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

Yes

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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