Virtually reducing pain: A systematic and meta-analysis on the efficiency of virtual reality in orofacial pain management

Abstract

Virtual Reality (VR), a computer technology that simulates a three-dimensional artificial environment and acts on the perception of pain through the effect on attention, emotion, concentration and/or memory. The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review of literature comparing the effectiveness and analyse the efficacy of VR as a method for reducing pain levels in orofacial pain management. To evaluate the efficacy of Virtual Reality in Orofacial Pain Management as therapeutic alternative in Randomized Controlled Trials. A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted according to PRISMA 2020 guidelines, to quantify the association between orofacial pain and VR effectiveness as management. MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane, Scopus, Web of Science, CINAHL, Google Scholar and manual search was systematically searched till 9th February 2025. Five studies were selected and evaluated in depth. The statistical evaluation was done with a Forest plot with overall effect size at 0.25. The test for overall effect as represented by z-score was 0.25, thus 0.25 standard deviations above the mean with a P-value of 0.81 at 95% confidence interval. The heterogeneity measured as τ2 was 0.87 and thus minimal. Virtual Reality as a part of pain management is about tricking the eyes and ears to change the working of the brain. From an enhanced treatment experience to a better psychological profile of the treatment after procedure, this add on to therapeutic protocol has a high potential on the utility front. The positive potential in the use of virtual reality in the management of orofacial pain has added backing from the data review and meta-analysis.

Keywords

• virtual reality
• distraction systems
• pain
• pain perception

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