You can sleep until your next surgery in VR

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Can virtual reality reduce patient anxiety and save sedatives during surgery? Studies suggest that it can.

New technologies are also being applied in medicine. A surgeon trains her in VR or prepares her for complex surgeries such as separating conjoined twins. In the future, patients can also benefit from VR headsets in the operating room.

Surgery is usually performed under local anesthesia. A doctor blocks a local nerve, but the patient remains fully conscious during the procedure.

You will be put into a twilight state with a sedative to avoid anxiety and panic attacks during the surgery. This can have unwanted side effects.

Will VR reduce anxiety in the operating room?

As an anesthesiologist, Professor Adeel Faruki of the University of Colorado School of Medicine must be constantly alert to pain and anxiety in his patients. Most sedatives are safe, but they slow breathing and increase blood pressure.

In one study, Faruki and a team of researchers looked at 40 patients who underwent hand surgery. Idea: Why not use virtual reality to distract patients and reduce anxiety without the use of sedatives?

The Colorado study results are surprising. A patient who watched virtual reality content during surgery and was shielded from ambient noise by headphones used significantly less sedative medication per hour than a patient who was using conventional sedatives. I was.

Almost half the amount of the anesthetic propofol was saved in this study. Regarding overall comfort during surgery, subjects showed no significant difference between VR and conventional sedation.

Benefits of VR in the Operating Room

For Colorado researchers, the benefits of VR in the operating room are clear, and not just comfort. Twilight patients cannot provide useful feedback about their condition, but VR headsets enable communication between doctors and patients.

For example, you can tell the time remaining in surgery via text messages superimposed on the VR headset, or directly ask how the patient is feeling, Falki says. In the future, researchers hope to send elderly patients into virtual reality during hip surgery. The side effects of sedatives are more dangerous than in young people.

VR is already in use in hospitals

VR is also being used in operating rooms in Germany. At the Fichtelgebirge hospital, patients watch movies during surgery. The VR headset is designed to help patients relax during surgery under local anesthesia, explains the hospital in his Marktredwitz in Upper Franconia.

Patients can choose from a variety of movies, including Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible. Classical concerts are also held. It is not yet known which app will be used for VR presentations. After a testing phase and positive feedback, virtual reality will become a permanent feature of hospital networks.

VR is already being used successfully in UK hospital surgeries.

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