Virtual Reality in the Pain Management of Pediatric Burn Patients, A Scoping Review

Burn care procedures are a major cause of pain, stress and anxiety, and pharmacological methods such as opioids are often insufficient for pain management. This scoping review aimed to understand how virtual reality (VR) might help in the management of pain of pediatric patients suffering from burn wounds. An electronic search was conducted, and thirteen studies were included after the selection process. The studies used various immersive games such as SnowWorld, Dreamland, Virtual River Cruise, Bubbles, ChickenLittle or Need for Speed to reduce pain intensity during the wound dressing change procedures, skin stretching exercises, and hydrotherapy or physical therapy sessions. The results showed the feasibility of using VR to support pain management of burn pediatric patients and pointed for the reduction of pain intensity when using VR, as compared with control groups. Future research should include the customization of the VR solutions to improve the motivational relevance and increase treatment variants, the definition of standardized protocols for clinical implementation, or to determine if it is possible to reduce opioids as a primary outcome.