Overcoming Pain with Virtual Reality: Exploring the Potential of VR as a Tool for Pediatric Pain Management

Abstract

Highlights
Virtual Reality interventions are a relatively new approach in pain management for children and adolescents,
however, research in this field is growing.
Two not mutually exclusive theories emerged on how VR can decrease acute and chronic pain:
(1) via distraction – VR has been repeatedly tested as a distraction tool in experiments as well as in clinical contexts,
especially for acute pain. There are strong indications in literature pointing towards a pain-relieving effect of
VR, however the evidence is weak and relevant studies are not systematically comparable due to unstandardized
methods and different age groups, as well as partially insufficient sample sizes and open questions regarding the
used paradigms.
(2) via embodiment – experimental studies indicate that ownership and visual modification of a virtual body
part may decrease pain perception in this body part, however this approach has not been sufficiently tested in a
clinical context yet; in particular, more evidence for children and adolescents and with regards to acute versus
chronic pain is needed.