Control effect of virtual reality technology on procedural pain in children’s wound: A meta-analysis

Children who undergo wound manipulation usually experience pain. Virtual reality technology is a novel and effective non pharmaceutical therapy for reducing pain in children scheduled to undergo wound manipulation. However, the effectiveness of Virtual reality technology in controlling procedural pain in children’s wounds has not been evaluated in a systematic review. METHODS: It employed a meta-analysis design. We included studies with randomized controlled trials, reporting children’s wound manipulation pain, and published them in English. Two reviewers independently evaluated the methodological quality of the included studies. RESULTS: Of the 108 studies identified, 39 were eligible for the meta-analysis, with a total sample of 273 patients. The use of virtual reality technology has significantly reduced pain intensity during wound manipulation in children. There was a significant difference between the experimental group (virtual reality) and the control group (no virtual reality) in reducing the pain of the children’s wound manipulation (P < .05). CONCLUSION: As a distraction method of non drug assisted analgesia intervention, virtual reality technology can reduce children’s procedural pain and discomfort symptoms.