What place for virtual reality in the intensive care unit during medical procedures?

Abstract

Abstract In the intensive care unit, patients are subject to discomforts and pain. Their management is essentially based on pharmacologic approaches. Immersive virtual reality could represent an adjunctive non-invasive and non-pharmacological pain control technique. It is based on real-time interaction with an artificial 360° immersive world using interfaces that enable physical and emotional perceptions to make the user feel better trying to reduce pain perception and to limit anxiety. Evaluation of virtual reality in intensive care unit is lacking and further studies are necessary before to introduce this alternative method for critical patients.

Keywords

• Virtual reality
• ICU
• Pain
• Anxiety