Virtual reality headsets helping to ease the pain for patients undergoing Interventional Radiology procedures

Patients undergoing Interventional Radiology procedures are taking a trip to the beach, forest or mountains in an effort to help alleviate pain and anxiety.

University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust is running a trial that allows patients to wear virtual reality (VR) headsets throughout their treatment.

The equipment offers the choice of listening in any language to a meditative soundtrack that can include targeted breathing exercises and talks users through procedures which can sometimes last up to four hours.

Specialist Interventional Radiographer Leah Simeone said: “We've had lots of good feedback.

“People often come a bit worked up and that anxiety just increases the longer the procedure goes on. We find it helps to manage that.

“We have to reach the area we are trying to treat. If we get an hour in and have not reached the area and the patient says ‘I’m done’ then we have to abandon with no treatment.

“Vascular patients tend to have cramping-type pain in their lower lower limb and lying down flat on the couch just makes that pain worse. It just turns into a numbness that then turns into an ache and excruciating pain. So having their headset helps them to keep that distraction up and on the treatment table for longer.

“Those that have fibroid embolisation are in huge amounts of pain after the procedure so we can then give them the headset when they’re sat in the ward to calm them down.”

The headset is the only one registered as a medical device and is used by people needing vascular, biliary, oncology or renal minimally invasive procedures lasting longer than 20 minutes. Anyone under the age of 18 or with a history of vertigo, dizziness or epilepsy is excluded.

Patients should be lying on their back and have the option to remove the headset at any time.

“What we're trying to do is prove retrospectively that we're reducing the amount of room time and sedation that we need and the radiation time that we use,” added Leah. “We’re looking to get 100 patients and it will take several more years.

“In some cases, we’ve found patients asking for less top-up sedation. It’s something we are noticing but we’ve not been able to prove so that’s why we’re hoping to get more data.

“Some patients are coming to us because they're contraindicated for surgery because they're contraindicated for general aesthetic. We're trying to treat them in a safer way.”