Document Type

Poster

Associated Faculty

Sarah Hanscome MSN, RN

Sponsoring Academic Department

School of Nursing

Publication Date

2025

Abstract/ Summary

The diagnosis and treatment of cancer not only impact the body’s anatomy, but also influence the patients mentally through things like fatigue, anxiety, and depression. With the use of invasive procedures such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, there can be detrimental side effects, including pain and anxiety. These effects can limit the patient's ability to interact with other children, play, and learn like children without a diagnosis of cancer. This literature review will examine the use of virtual reality (VR) as an effective non-pharmacological treatment of cancer pain during and after treatments/procedures in pediatric patients between the ages of 5 and 18 years. Databases including CINAHL, PubMed, Medline, and PsycINFO were used to find peer-reviewed articles published within the past 5 years, including children and adolescents that support our hypothesis: that using Virtual Reality in pediatric oncology patients ages 5-18 years old will result in a reduction of pain and discomfort. Exclusion criteria include patients younger than 5 years or older than 18, and any studies that didn’t use VR to reduce pain. The literature review found that the use of virtual reality improved the patient’s quality of life. Virtual reality games positively affected the alleviation of pain both in pediatric and adolescent patients compared to the use of opioid analgesics. Barriers to the use of VR were cost and staff technology proficiency. Though there are barriers, it is recommended that VR be utilized in the pediatric population to reduce pain and stress during invasive chemotherapy procedures.

Version

other

Additional Files
Gousha, Grenier, Griffin, Tompson_Poster.pptx.pdf (254 kB)
Poster
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