Distraction therapies for office-based Otolaryngology procedures
performed on the upper airway
Abstract
Objective: To assess the effectiveness of auditory and visual
distraction interventions on patient discomfort, pain and anxiety during
office-based Otolaryngologic upper airway procedures. Data
Sources: Literature searches were done through Cochrane Central
Register of Controlled Trials, Lilacs, MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, and
Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature. Review
Methods: The protocol was registered in PROSPERO on August 17
th 2022, under Registration number CRD42020204354.
Results: We identified 138 records; two randomized controlled
trials using virtual reality as a distraction technique in adults and
one in children were included. All studies had some concerns regarding
risk of bias. In adults, anxiety was lower in the virtual reality group
than in the standard of care, (mean difference -16.72, 95% CI -27.19 to
-6.24, p=0.002, I 2=0%). There was no difference in
procedure related pain between groups, (mean difference -0.28, 95% CI
-1.24 to 0.68, p=0.57, I 2=10%). There was no
difference in satisfaction between groups (Standardized mean difference
0.18, 95% CI -0.22 to 0.58, p = 0.37, I 2=0%). Only
one Pediatric study was included hence no meta-analysis was done.
Anxiety and pain were lower and satisfaction was higher in the group
using virtual reality. Conclusions: The use of virtual reality
distraction in addition to standard analgesia during office-based
Otolaryngology upper airway procedures reduced anxiety in adults. It did
not decrease pain or increase the level of patient satisfaction. In the
paediatric population, there is a reported benefit for procedural
anxiety, pain and satisfaction.