Virtual Reality for Burn Wound Care Pain Control

The investigators propose to study the effects of virtual reality (VR) on patients' pain perception during burn wound care. Such variables include psychiatric diagnosis and standard pain coping (i.e. pain catastophizer vs. non-pain catastrophizer).Aims: The investigators intend to evaluate the use of virtual reality in pain distraction for burn patients undergoing burn wound care. To that end our aims are: 1) To determine if pain perception will be less during the portion of the procedure in which the patient is immersed in the VR session in comparison to the portion of wound care which will occur without VR immersion. 2) To determine if anticipatory anxiety will be less for the portion of wound care that includes the virtual reality in comparison to the portion without virtual reality. 3) To determine if current psychiatric diagnosis, especially acute stress disorder and depression, is related to higher pain perception and greater decrease in pain with the virtual reality distraction. 4) To determine if being a "pain catastrophizer" is related to higher pain perception and greater benefits from the

Study Overview

• Status: Unknown
• Conditions: Pain; Anxiety
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Virtual Reality

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 12
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Roger W Yurt, MD FACS; Phone Number: 2127465410; Email: ryurt@med.cornell.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Angela Rabbitts, RN MS; Phone Number: 2127465881; Email: anr2002@med.cornell.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • New York, New York, United States, 10065
      • Recruiting
      • New York Presbyterian Hospital, WRH Burn Center
      • Contact: Roger W Yurt, MD FACS; Phone Number: 212-746-5410; Email: ryurt@med.cornell.edu
      • Principal Investigator: Roger W Yurt, MD FACS

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 10 years and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 12-100years
• Minimum burn wound size of 2% total body surface area (TBSA) excluding head and dominant hand
• Be able to sit upright independently in bed
• Minimum pain rating of 4/10 on a Visual Analog Scale (only using the most painful extremity).
• Able to consent to the study

Exclusion Criteria:

• Known history of motion sickness
• Seizures
• Migraines
• Current psychosis, dementia, or delirium
• Current blindness and/or deafness that significantly affects their ability to experience the VR

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: 1; The first treatment session will involve 5-7 minutes of burn wound care while distracted by VR, and 5-7 minutes of burn wound care without the distraction of VR. The second session of burn wound care (performed within the next 3 days) will involve 5-7 minutes of burn wound care without the distraction of VR, and 5-7 minutes of burn wound care with the distraction of VR. The treatment order will be randomized.	Other: Virtual Reality; Virtual reality (VR) gives patients an illusion of going into the 3-D computer generated environment/virtual world. During VR, the subject wears a head-mounted virtual reality helmet that positions two goggle-sized miniature LCD computer screens close to the subject's eyes. Position tracking devices keep the computer informed of changes in the patient's head location. An electro-magnetic head orientation device feeds the x, y, z coordinates of the patient's head to the computer, which can quickly change what the patient sees in virtual reality accordingly. The scenery in VR changes as the patient moves her head orientation (e.g., virtual objects in front of the patient in VR get closer as the patient, wearing the VR helmet, leans forward in the real world).; Other Names: SnowWorld Multigen-Paradigm Inc, SimWright Inc
Active Comparator: 2; The first treatment session will involve 5-7 minutes of burn wound care while distracted by VR, and 5-7 minutes of burn wound care without the distraction of VR. The second session of burn wound care (performed within the next 3 days) will involve 5-7 minutes of burn wound care without the distraction of VR, and 5-7 minutes of burn wound care with the distraction of VR. The treatment order will be randomized.	Other: Virtual Reality; Virtual reality (VR) gives patients an illusion of going into the 3-D computer generated environment/virtual world. During VR, the subject wears a head-mounted virtual reality helmet that positions two goggle-sized miniature LCD computer screens close to the subject's eyes. Position tracking devices keep the computer informed of changes in the patient's head location. An electro-magnetic head orientation device feeds the x, y, z coordinates of the patient's head to the computer, which can quickly change what the patient sees in virtual reality accordingly. The scenery in VR changes as the patient moves her head orientation (e.g., virtual objects in front of the patient in VR get closer as the patient, wearing the VR helmet, leans forward in the real world).; Other Names: SnowWorld Multigen-Paradigm Inc, SimWright Inc

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
pain perception	immediate
anticipatory anxiety	immediate
current psychiatric diagnosis, is related to pain	immediate
"pain catastrophizing" is related to higher pain perception and greater benefits from the VR	immediate

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Weill Medical College of Cornell University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Roger W Yurt, MD FACS, Weill Medical College of Cornell University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: October 1, 2007
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): May 1, 2010
• Study Completion (Anticipated): May 1, 2010

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 17, 2008
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 19, 2008
• First Posted (Estimate): April 21, 2008

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): January 4, 2011
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 3, 2011
• Last Verified: January 1, 2011

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: pain; anxiety; burn
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Wounds and Injuries; Burns
• Other Study ID Numbers: 0701008961