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Use of Virtual Reality for Pediatric Minor Surgical Procedures

Evaluation of Technology-Based Distractions In Pediatric Patients During General Surgery Minor Procedures

Status
Withdrawn
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT04125004
Enrollment
0
Registered
2019-10-14
Start date
2020-01-08
Completion date
2021-03-01
Last updated
2021-03-22

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

General Anesthesia, Virtual Reality

Keywords

virtual reality, pediatric surgery, general anesthesia, distraction technique

Brief summary

This project is looking to use virtual reality for minor general surgery procedures in addition to local anesthesia instead of general anesthesia.

Detailed description

Study population. Patients ages 7-18 undergoing minor surgical procedures at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital will be recruited. Minor surgical procedures include hormone implant placement/removal/exchange, cecostomy tube exchange, incision and drainage of superficial soft tissue abscesses excluding the perineum and buttock, excision of benign masses \<2cm on the extremity (e.g. sebaceous cyst, pilomatricoma, lipoma, etc), and foreign body removal from superficial wounds. Exclusion criteria include those with significant cognitive impairment, history of motion sickness, history of seizures, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) \<15, currently taking anxiety medication or narcotics, facial trauma, clinically unstable or require urgent/emergent intubation, claustrophobia, and visual or auditory impairment. The investigators aim to enroll at least 200 patients into the study. Intervention. Research coordinators will recruit patients and their families prior to their schedule procedures. Informed consent and assent will be obtained from participants and their caregivers when a patient is a minor. Demographic information will be collected from all participants. Patients will complete pre-procedural survey for pain and anxiety. Parents will complete a survey that documents their perception of their child's anxiety level. Patients will be randomly assigned to a treatment arm. Patients assigned to the general anesthesia arm will have a child life specialist in the pre-procedural period per hospital routine. Anesthesia will be administered at the discretion of the anesthesiologist. Once the procedure is completed, the patient will recover and be monitored in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) per hospital guidelines. Patients assigned to the virtual reality arm will be instructed on how to use the handheld system. A trained research coordinator or child life specialist will be with the patient during the procedure to help with any issues that may arise. They will document any interfering behaviors during the procedure. After the procedure, the patient will be monitored in the PACU per hospital guidelines. All patients will complete the post-procedural survey for pain and anxiety. Patients, parents and the surgeon will also complete satisfaction surveys.

Interventions

DEVICESamsung Virtual Reality Headset

Patients will pick a game or feature from the virtual reality headset to use during their procedure

Sponsors

Stanford University
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
7 Years to 18 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

* less than 18 years of age * parental consent/patient assent * undergoing minor procedure(s)

Exclusion criteria

* participants and patients who do not consent * have significant cognitive impairment * have a history of severe motion sickness * currently have nausea * history of seizures or currently experiencing seizures * have visual or auditory impairment * clinically unstable or require urgent/emergent intervention and/or American Society of Anesthesiologist class 4 or 5 * history of claustrophobia * Glasgow Coma Scale \<15 * currently taking anxiety medication * currently taking narcotics * facial trauma

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Completion of procedure2 yearsCan the procedure be completed without general anesthesia or procedure sedation. Surgeons will be provided with a self-report survey documenting completion of the procedure. This will be assessed by the surgeon completing the procedure who will answer via questionnaire.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Pain Catastrophizing Scale for Parents2 yearsParents will complete a modified Pain Catastrophizing Scale for Parents (PCS-P) before and after the procedure. This survey identifies the thoughts and feelings of the parent in relation to the pain their child may experience during the procedure. Scores range from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much).
Change in Faces Pain Scale2 yearsThe Face Pain Scale (Hicks et. al., 2001) is a self-reported scale that uses cartoon depictions of faces to quantify on a scale 0-10 scale how pain a child is experiencing at a given moment.
Caregiver's satisfaction of procedure2 yearsA satisfaction survey will be provided to caregivers which will document how satisfied they were using the intervention, if they believed it helped them, if they would choose to use the intervention again and if they would recommend the intervention.
Change in Children's Fear Scale2 yearsThe Children's Fear Scale (McMurty et al. 2011) is a self-reported scale that uses cartoon depictions of faces to quantify on a 0-4 scale how scared a child is at the given moment
Cost difference between general anesthesia and virtual reality2 yearsHospital cost data for the procedure will be collected. The difference in cost for patients using general anesthesia versus using virtual reality will then be calculated
Change in Anxiety Scale2 yearsParticipants will fill out a survey to document their anxiety during and after the procedure. Anxiety will be measured on a visual analogue scale using the Childhood Anxiety Meter (0-10) where participants will fill in a scale of how anxious they were during and after the procedure. Higher values represent a worse outcome (i.e. higher level of anxiety).
Clinician Satisfaction Survey2 yearsSurgeons will be provided with a self-report survey asking their satisfaction with the technology, the patients' immersion with the technology, and the desire for use in future procedures based on a 1-5 scale.

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026