Impact of Virtual Reality on Anxiety in Patients Undergoing Interventional Procedures
Assessing the Impact of Immersive Virtual Reality Experience on Injection-related Anxiety in Patients Undergoing Interventional Pain Spine Procedures: a Prospective Randomized Trial
Who can join
Ages 18 to 80 · All sexes
Full eligibility criteria
Inclusion Criteria: * Age 18-80 years old at day of enrollment * Neck pain patient deemed to be a candidate for pain control treatment with interventional fluoroscopically guided cervical epidural steroid injection as determined by their pain medicine provider based on history, physical exam, and radiographic findings * Willingness to undergo pre-procedural intervention of VR viewing experience or equivalent pre-procedural wait time * No history of prior epidural steroid injections * Did not receive sedatives prior to or during procedure Exclusion Criteria: * Refusal / inability to participate or provide consent * Contraindications to injection (anticoagulated states, allergy to components of injection, local infection at injection site, current infectious process or treatment of antibiotics for current infection) * Uncontrolled anxiety disorder or untreated/inadequately treated psychiatric disorder * History of Alzheimer's, dementia, or cognitive dysfunction * Patient currently taking benzodiazepines * Severe motion sickness * Seizure disorder * Vision loss * Non-English speaking patients
About the study
Periprocedural anxiety is a common problem for patients who undergo interventional pain procedures. Virtual Reality (VR) is an immersive experience that has gained acceptance in the medical field as a tool for reducing anxiety and pain for patients.Research Aim:
To evaluate the effect of immersive virtual reality (VR) on periprocedural anxiety related to therapeutic cervical epidural steroid injections (ESI).
The investigators hypothesize that immersive virtual reality will result in a clinically meaningful anxiety reduction, defined as the proportion of participants with \> 50% reduction in Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) anxiety scores when compared to participants in the non-treatment group who will have standard preprocedural waiting time conditions in clinic, but no VR experience. Similarly, the investigators hypothesize a significant reduction in objective sympathetic tone as measured by skin sympathetic nerve activity (SKNA).
What is being tested
- Group 1 Immersive Virtual Reality (VR) (other)
- Group 2 Control Group (other)
Sponsor: Northwestern University · Participants: 64 · Started: Mar 12, 2023
Contact the study team
- Paul Fitzgerald, RN,BSN,MS · Phone: 312-695-1064
- Jason Ross, MD · Phone: 312-695-0061
Official record on ClinicalTrials.gov — NCT05744336
Locations in the U.S.
| Illinois | Anesthesiology Pain Medicine Center, Chicago |
Conditions
From ClinicalTrials.gov, data retrieved Nov 15, 2026. Each study sets its own eligibility; the study team decides who can join.