Virtual reality kills pain
Well, duh! Karen Grimmer and collegues from Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Adelaide, Australia, recently conducted a study in which seven children (ages 7-18) treated for severe burns were given videogames in addition to painkillers, to see if it would further reduce their pain during wound treatment. On a 10 scale, they found the average score for drugs alone was 4.1, while drugs and videogames scored 1.3. All but one child lost 2+ points when playing the game. The researchers are eager to continue virtual reality study on more subjects.
Virtual Reality Kills Kids’ Pain, Betterhumans.com.
The efficacy of playing a virtual reality game in modulating pain for children with acute burn injuries: A randomized controlled trial, Debashish A Das, Karen A Grimmer, Anthony J Sparnon, Sarah J McRae and Bruce A Thomas.