Virtual reality and digital technologies for pain management: scope review

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES  Pain management is admittedly complex, and many efforts have been made to develop new non-pharmacological therapies, including the application of digital technologies in the care process, but there are still some gaps as to which digital technologies can contribute to non-pharmacological pain management and how they can do this. The aim of this study was to map out in scientific literature how digital technologies (virtual reality, augmented reality, apps and digital games) can be used to contribute to pain management.

CONTENTS  The scoping review of the literature was carried out in April 2023 on the portals and/or databases SCOPUS, Web of Science, LILACS, the journal portal of the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES) and the National Library of Medicine (Pubmed), and was updated in April 2024, in English, Portuguese and Spanish; the search period was between April and May 2023; research terms adopted: “Virtual Reality” AND “Pain”; “Augmented Reality” AND “Pain”; “Digital Game” AND “Pain”; “App” AND “Pain”, and their variations in English and Spanish. Two hundred of the 2437 scientific articles found were included in this research. The analysis of these studies showed virtual reality to be the most widely used technology for pain management, due to its immersive properties, which favor cognitive distraction during its use, consequently reducing the need for pharmacological approaches.

CONCLUSION  According to this scoping review, digital technologies have the potential to facilitate cognitive distraction and reduce the risks of overuse of analgesics, with virtual reality being the most prominent technology in various contexts for pain management due to the integration of the senses and greater capture of attention, thus transcending the environmental stress associated with pain sensations. This research has provided a perspective for updating health care, considering that, through digital technologies, pain can be managed with low-complexity strategies and in different age groups.

Keywords:
Digital health technology; Pain management; Pain measurement; Pain perception

HIGHLIGHTS

Virtual reality as the most prominent digital technology in various contexts for pain management

Cognitive distraction as a way of relieving, with the intention of changing the way pain is perceived by the subjects

The adoption of digital technologies contributes to increasing pharmacological safety in pain management, with the understanding that pain treatment needs to be multidimensional