Efficacy of Virtual Reality in Reducing Injection Pain and Anxiety During Local Anesthesia in Children

Local Anesthesia Clinical Trial

Official title: Efficacy of Virtual Reality Distraction in Reducing Injection Pain and Anxiety During Local Anesthesia in Pediatric Dental Patients

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

The aim of this study is to determine the efficacy of a virtual reality (VR) device in reducing injection pain and anxiety associated with local anesthesia in pediatric dental patients.

The clinical trial is a randomized split-mouth assignment. Included patients are 8-12 years old requiring local anesthetic infiltration with conventional syringe (CS) for conservative treatment of two primary maxillary molars bilaterally.

Eligible patients undergo two single-visit treatments after CFSS-DS measurement before each, whereas VR is allocated to either first or second local anesthesia procedure. Primary outcome measure will be pain felt during injection, reported by patient on visual analogue scale (VAS). Secondary outcome measures: self-reported anxiety during injection on FIS; pain-related behavior according to FLACC scale; heart-rate dynamics; patient preference to local anesthesia method - CS or CS+VR.

Clinical Trial Description

Achieving local anesthesia in children is one of the critical aspects of pain management.

A contemporary engaging form of distraction is represented by virtual reality devices. Virtual reality (VR) devices create a virtual environment of view and sound that allow patients to be immersed in an interactive, simulated world to distract them from pain. The VR devices have a wide viewing field and three-dimensional displays that project the images right in front of the user. They not only show potentially attractive audio-visual stimuli, but also exclude all other visual environmental stimuli that may affect the patient.

The aim of this study is to determine the efficacy of a virtual reality (VR) device in reducing injection pain and anxiety associated with local anesthesia in pediatric dental patients.

The device used in this study is Noon VR, FXGear, compatible with a mobile phone.

The clinical trial is a randomized split-mouth assignment. Included patients are healthy positive children 8-12 years old requiring local anesthetic infiltration for conservative treatment of two primary maxillary molars bilaterally.

Eligible patients undergo two single-visit treatments after measurement of dental fear prior to each according to the Dental Subscale of the Children's Fear Survey Schedule (CFSS-DS). Local anesthetic is delivered through buccal infiltration with conventional syringe, where as the virtual reality distraction is allocated to either first or second local anesthesia procedure. Primary outcome measure will be pain felt during injection, reported by patient on visual analogue scale. Secondary outcome measures: self-reported anxiety during injection on Facial Image Scale; pain-related behavior according to Faces, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability (FLACC) scale; heart-rate dynamics; patient preference to local anesthesia method - traditional infiltration or virtual reality device-assisted injection. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Injection Pain
• Local Anesthesia

• NCT number: NCT03772483
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: Plovdiv Medical University
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: December 15, 2018
• Completion date: October 15, 2019