Skip to content

Effect of Virtual Reality for Pain Management During Intracervical Balloon Placement for Artificial Childbirth Induction

The Effect of Virtual Reality for Pain Management During Intracervical Balloon Placement for Labor Induction: a Randomized Controlled Trial (VIRTUALMAG)

Status
Completed
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05155826
Acronym
VIRTUALMAG
Enrollment
60
Registered
2021-12-14
Start date
2022-02-01
Completion date
2023-02-28
Last updated
2026-06-30

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

Conditions

Delivery Problem, Labor Pain

Keywords

labor induction, intra-cervical balloon, pain, virtual reality, Cook®

Brief summary

The labor induction concerns 22% of births in France. In the event of labor induction, in almost two thirds of cases, a cervical ripening method is used and the use of mechanical methods is observed for 8% of cervical ripening. Intra-cervical balloon placement is generally well tolerated but is frequently associated with pain and acute anxiety. There are few options for pain relief. Virtual reality, a relatively new intervention, has been studied as a distraction technique for pain relief, but never in the context of the induction of childbirth.

Detailed description

It's prospective single-center, randomized, single-blind, prospective study (1:1, 2 group randomization) comparing a group of patients who benefited from the use of the virtual reality headset to a group of patients who received standard care during balloon insertion. Two groups of patients will be formed: a "standard care" group and a "standard care + virtual reality" group. The study will take place at the Saint-Etienne University Hospital Center in the gynecology-obstetrics department. The principal objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of the use of a virtual reality helmet on the reduction of pain during the insertion of an intra-cervical balloon for childbirth induction versus the use of standard care.

Interventions

DEVICEVirtual Reality Headset

The patient will benefit from the placement of Cook's balloon (standard care) with the placement of the virtual reality headset on the examination table with the launch of the software before the beginning of the procedure. The virtual reality helmet will be removed at the end of the procedure.

Sponsors

Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint Etienne
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE

Intervention model description

This is a prospective monocentric study, randomized in 2 parallel groups, evaluating the effectiveness of the use of a virtual reality headset on the reduction of pain during intra-cervical balloon insertion for induction versus standard care.

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Any pregnant woman presenting to the Gynecology-Obstetrics Department of the Saint-Etienne University Hospital for an induction by Cook's balloon. * Patients affiliated or entitled to a social security system * Patients having given their agreement to participate and after signing the consent form

Exclusion criteria

* Woman refusing to participate in the study (lack of consent) * Non French-speaking woman (impossibility of carrying out a good quality interview of the pregnant woman) * Women suffering from blindness, deafness or epilepsy against the use of the virtual reality helmet. * Participation in another interventional study. * Patient under guardianship or curatorship * Patient subject to a legal protection measure or unable to express their consent

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
maximum pain felt during balloon placementDay: 0Measurement of the maximum pain experienced during the placement of the intra-cervical balloon using a numerical scale from 0 to 10: 0 = no pain, 10 = maximum pain.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
average pain felt during balloon placementDay: 0Average pain felt during balloon placement measured by a numerical scale from 0 to 10. (0 no pain - 10 maximum pain).
Nociception Level Index (NOL™) during balloon placementDay: 0Measured Nociception Level Index (NOL ™) calculated by the PMD200 Pain Monitor™. Nociception Level Index is numerical index from 0 to 100. (\>25 = pain)
Anxiety felt during balloon placementDay: 0Anxiety felt during balloon placement measured by a numerical scale from 0 to 10 : 0 = no anxiety - 10 = maximum anxiety.
difficulty of balloon placement by the midwife during induction of laborDay: 0Difficulty of balloon placement by the midwife is measured by questionary classified as very easy / easy / ni easy ni difficult / difficult / very difficult
patient's satisfaction with the use of the virtual reality headset.Day: 0patient's satisfaction is evaluated by Likert scale: Completely satisfied/ Satisfied/ Neutral/ Not satisfied/ Not at all satisfied
midwife's satisfaction with the use of the virtual reality headset.Day: 0midwife's satisfaction is evaluated by Likert scale: Completely satisfied/ Satisfied/ Neutral/ Not satisfied/ Not at all satisfied
tolerance of the virtual reality helmet by the patient.Day: 0Tolerance is a composite outcome : nausea (YES/NO), dizziness (YES/NO), premature stopping (YES/NO)

Countries

France

Contacts

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORTiphaine RAIA BARJAT, MD

Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint Etienne

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Jul 1, 2026