Virtual reality technology has been successfully used in the diagnosis and treatment of many diseases. Studies by Belgian scientists have shown that VR can also be successfully used to reduce the introduction of anesthesia to patients during surgeries by at least 50%.
Inducing a drug sleep (intravenous sedation) in a patient is used to reduce pain and relieve stress. However, the use of medications carries certain risks, such as a possible allergic reactions. Regaining consciousness after the state of anesthesia is a long process accompanied by side effects for the body.
Meanwhile, the use of virtual reality does not have side effects and does not require much time to awaken from the state of a drug sleep. During the study of the effectiveness of virtual reality, 60 patients were divided into three groups. In the first group, only intravenous sedation medications were used, the second group was exposed to VR during the local anesthesia, and in the third group, the patients wore VR glasses before and during the introduction of local sedation. The patients were shown a relaxing video of the deep sea, which led to a decrease in emotional stress.
The experiment showed that only 5 people from the second group and 2 from the third group felt pain and asked for the introduction of additional anesthetics. Doctors suggest that the use of virtual reality distracts a person, creates a feeling of peace and reduces the degree of stress.
Despite the fact that the mechanism of action of VR therapy on the human body is still little studied, scientists assume that the technique will be actively used in hospitals in the next three years.
