Implementation of virtual reality for patient distraction during diagnostic cardiac catheterisation.

ABSTRACT

Until now, the application of virtual reality as a distraction model has been widely described in the medical field, showing different benefits offered on patient's perception, particularly related to pain and anxiety. Previous clinical experience of virtual reality applications on surgical intervention has shown how during procedures with local anaesthesia, this modality improves patients' experience without changing times, costs, and clinical outcomes. Herein, we report our experience with three patients during diagnostic cardiac catheterisation, showing the effect of this technology on patients' perception and metrics during the procedure.