To Test Effectiveness of Virtual Reality on Post Operative Patients 'VR-RAP@

NCT07274098 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 338543
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 10
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Virtual reality (VR) headsets (like those used in gaming) allow users to feel immersed in an artificial 3 dimensional environment. The user is able to look around within the environment and interact with it. Virtual reality has been used extensively in video games and also in training eg in flight simulators used to train pilots. There is now a growing use of VR in a clinical setting as virtual reality environments have been designed to help users relax and reduce anxiety or distract and reduce pain. Trials have shown that these can work in many situations including helping relax staff who are working in highly stressful situations, or to distract and help reduce pain in patients following injuries or during minor operations. The relaxation environments use pictures and sounds to create calm environments and can guide users in breathing exercises which help calm and relax. This study is to investigate whether it will be possible to do a study using a VR headset with a relaxation experience, in the days following abdominal surgery that leads to a reduction in anxiety and pain. Two groups of patients will be studied, one group will use the head set twice a day for up to 5 days and the other will not. They will record their pain and anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10 every day. The amount of pain reducing medicines that they need will also be recorded. The patients will be randomly divided into the 2 groups, they will not get to choose. The researchers will see whether patients are happy to use the headsets following surgery and at the end of the study, the pain and anxiety scores for the group which used the VR headset will be compared with the scores for the group that didn't.

Conditions

Colo-rectal Surgery

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Percent of participants in the virtual reality group who complete 80% of potential sessions (i.e. twice per day until discharge; maximum 5 days)

  Percent of participants in the virtual reality group who complete 80% of potential sessions (i.e. twice per day until discharge; maximum 5 days)

  (i.e. twice per day until discharge; maximum 5 days)

Study Arms (2)

Standard of Care

NO INTERVENTION

This arm received Standard care

Virtual Reality

EXPERIMENTAL

This arm receives the VR intervention Virtual Reality

Device: Virtual reality

Interventions

Virtual reality DEVICE

If randomised to VR then the patient will wear the unit twice a day, morning and afternoon, if possible, before the ward drug round, for a maximum of 5 days whilst they are in hospital. The number of days will depend on the length of time the participant is in hospital post surgery.

Virtual Reality

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Adults 18 years and above Having elective laparoscopic colorectal surgery Patients who are able to understand English and can understand the Participant Information Sheet and give informed consent to take part in the study.

You may not qualify if:

• presence of motion sickness
• stroke
• Severe nausea
• isolation status for infection control
• neurological conditions i.e. dementia, seizure, epilepsy
• Suffering from delirium or acute confusional state
• Skin on face or head is broken i.e. head wounds or dermatological conditions
• Conversion to open surgery, if decided prior to consent
• Patients with severe visual impairment (i.e., not able to clearly see without glasses; patients with contact lenses will not be excluded).
• Use of strong opioids (i.e., morphine)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust: lead

Study Sites (1)

Kent and Canterbury Hospital

Canterbury, Kent, CT1 3NG, United Kingdom

Location

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER GOV
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 26, 2025
• First Posted: December 10, 2025
• Study Start: April 16, 2025
• Primary Completion: June 9, 2025
• Study Completion: August 8, 2025
• Last Updated: December 10, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-11

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

GB (1)