Children who have the distraction of a virtual reality game while undergoing post-operative physiotherapy, report a significant decrease in their experience of pain, new research at the University of South Australia has found.
In the first study of its kind carried out with children, researchers at UniSA’s Centre for Allied Health Evidence and Schools of Computer and Information Science and Health Sciences (Physiotherapy) in conjunction with the University of Washington’s Human Interface Technology Laboratory, report that a little virtual reality helps to minimise post-operative pain for children.
Research project leader, Associate Professor Karen Grimmer said the UniSA project found a 41.2 per cent reduction in pain for children who tried the new technology.
“Pain management for children is quite complex. There are issues with dosages, a stronger impact from side effects and in some cases children simply can’t tolerate traditional pharmacological agents,” Professor Grimmer said.
“Following some very promising research in the United States with adult burns victims and the use of virtual reality as a form of analgesia, we have been exploring how we might adapt this technology for children who suffer pain post surgery.
“Working across disciplines we have developed a virtual reality game and trialed its use on children with cerebral palsy who have undergone surgery to ligaments in their legs to avert spasticity. The surgery is followed by a fairly harrowing amount of physiotherapy to encourage recovery and movement in the limbs.”
Over a six-day period the children trialing the virtual reality headset and game were given normal pain medications but were able to use the game in addition to the medication for half (order randomised) of their twice-daily physiotherapy sessions.
Asked to scale their pain using five faces, denoting levels of pain, the patients’ overall pain ratings while using the virtual reality game were significantly lower than without the game.
The virtual reality game is based on an existing video game, which has been extensively modified by researchers from UniSA’s Wearable Computer Laboratory led by Associate Professor Bruce Thomas.
Children undergoing treatment wear head mounted goggles and a computer projects images onto the goggles, which are mini monitors. Using their hands to control a normal computer mouse, the children aim to shoot monsters that appear while they drive a train carriage through a castle.