Effects of Virtual Reality on Pre-Operative Anxiety and Induction of Anesthesia in Children and Adolescents

Pain and anxiety have a direct correlation. Patients who experience anxiety are more susceptible to feeling pain, and patients who experience pain are more likely to have a component of anxiety associated with their pain. A common technique used by pain psychologists to help minimize pain is distraction. Different forms of distraction include video games, movies, music, etc. Recently, doctors and researchers around the world have begun experimenting with Virtual Reality as a distraction technique. A review of the use of virtual reality compared to the current standard of care may help uncover important trends regarding anxiety, postoperative pain and analgesic use in patients who undergo a tonsillectomy or a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy.