WIP 05 - Efficacy of Virtual Reality in Reducing Anxiety During Laceration Repairs in a Pediatric Emergency Department

Publication Number: WIP 05.7517

Sara Szeles, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, United States; Brian Wrotniak, John R. Oishei Children's Hospital, Buffalo, NY, United States; Haiping Qiao, John R. Oishei Children's Hospital, Buffalo, NY, United States; Heather Territo, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo, Amherst, NY, United States

Background: Laceration repairs are a common procedure performed in the pediatric emergency department and are often perceived as potentially painful, leading to fear and anxiety. Local anesthetics are effective at mitigating pain however, children often experience distress when anticipating pain. This fear manifests as anxiety. Despite adequate analgesia, laceration repairs remain a distressing experience for pediatric patients. Adjuvants for proper and safe restraint exacerbate this underlying anxiety, leading to an overall traumatic experience. Virtual Reality (VR) is a digital simulation that allows users to immerse themselves in a computer-generated environment. VR has relatively new and novel uses in the field of pediatrics. Prior studies have shown success in lowering pain and anxiety during procedures such as IV placement in children. To date, few have looked at the use of VR to enhance the patient experience during laceration repairs. This study hopes to explore the utility of VR as a tool to lower anxiety in the emergency department setting. We want to identify the efficacy of VR in reducing anxiety among pediatric patients during laceration repairs.

Objective: Our objective is to determine the efficacy of utilizing virtual reality during laceration repairs to lower anxiety among patients compared with the standard of care distraction techniques (watching TV, phone, tablet, or child life specialist) in a tertiary care pediatric emergency department.

Design/Methods: This is a single-site, open-labeled, randomized controlled trial, with a target enrollment of 60 subjects. It was approved by the University at Buffalo IRB. Data is currently being collected by research assistants in our pediatric ED. Subjects complete self-reports of levels of anxiety while vital signs are recorded for more objective data measures. The primary aim will be assessed using repeated measures mixed ANOVA to compare the between-group difference in change in Visual Analogue Scale score for anxiety over time. We anticipate data collection to be completed by March 2025, allowing 1 month for data analysis.