The Effect of Virtual Reality on Pulmonary Recovery and Mobility in Patients With Blunt Chest Trauma

NCT ID: NCT05194176

Last Updated: 2023-03-08

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: TERMINATED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 27 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2022-03-28
• Study Completion Date: 2023-02-23

Brief Summary

Blunt chest trauma comprises over 10% of all trauma patients presenting to emergency departments worldwide and is the most frequent injury in polytrauma patients. It is associated with high risk (>10%) of pulmonary complications such as pneumonia. Pillars of treatment are adequate pain relief, respiratory function exercises and rapid mobilisation through physiotherapy. Inadequate pain control can result in restricted ventilatory function and in reduced mobility, both resulting in a higher risk of particularly pulmonary complications. Virtual Reality (VR) might be an easy to use, individualized, and harmless technique that can facilitate pulmonary recovery and aid in the prevention of complications through reducing pain and promoting exercising. The investigators hypothesize that VR improves respiratory function and mobilisation in the post-acute phase of blunt chest trauma by distracting patients from pain and stress, and by stimulating pulmonary and physical exercise.

Conditions

Blunt Chest Trauma

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Control

The control group will receive usual care. Patients will be instructed to perform respiratory exercises 8 times daily for 10 minutes and to extend these exercises 2 times daily with (sitting) physical exercises for an additional 10 minutes. Respiratory exercises include using incentive spirometry and exercises for deep breathing, huffing and coughing. Patients receive a leaflet with the exercises described and the exercises will be performed once daily under supervision of a physiotherapist. The other sessions will be unsupervised.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Virtual Reality

The intervention group will be instructed to perform the respiratory exercises using the VR-intervention 8 times daily for 10 minutes and to extend these exercises 2 times daily with (sitting) physical exercises for an additional 10 minutes. The respiratory exercises in VR are comparable to the exercises in usual care but performed in a virtual environment and without incentive spirometry. The physical exercises consist of several games through which patients are challenged to reach out to objects while engaging their core. Patients are allowed to continue these exercises or play some relaxation games for up to 30 minutes per session in total. The exercises will be performed once daily under supervision of a physiotherapist. The other sessions will be unsupervised.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Virtual Reality

Intervention Type: DEVICE

For all VR exercises a head mounted display (HMD), the PICO G2 4K (Barcelona, Spain) will be used. Together with SyncVRMedical (Utrecht, Netherlands) a VR dashboard has been created from which patients can chose the different exercises.

Interventions

Virtual Reality

For all VR exercises a head mounted display (HMD), the PICO G2 4K (Barcelona, Spain) will be used. Together with SyncVRMedical (Utrecht, Netherlands) a VR dashboard has been created from which patients can chose the different exercises.

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Admitted to the trauma ward with sustained blunt chest trauma
• Age≥16
• Patient is willing and able to comply with the study protocol

Exclusion Criteria

• Neurotrauma with GCS ≤13
• History of dementia, seizures, epilepsy
• Severe hearing/visual impairment not corrected
• Head wounds or damaged skin with which comfortable and hygienic use is not possible.
• Stay at intensive care unit (ICU) during current hospital admission.
• Erect position in bed not possible/allowed.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 16 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Radboud University Medical Center

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Locations

Radboud university medical center

Nijmegen, Gelderland, Netherlands

Countries

Netherlands

References

Groenveld TD, Smits IG, Scholten N, de Vries M, van Goor H, Stirler VM. Pulmonary and Physical Virtual Reality Exercises for Patients With Blunt Chest Trauma: Randomized Clinical Trial. JMIR Serious Games. 2024 Dec 9;12:e54389. doi: 10.2196/54389.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 39652866 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

112814

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id