The impact of virtual reality on pain management during normal labor: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Baradwan, Saeed
Khadawardi, Khalid
Badghish, Ehab
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Alkhamis, Waleed H.
Dahi, Ali Abdelmoezz
Abdallah, Khaled M.
Kamel, Medhat
Sayd, Zainab Shehata
Mohamed, Mohamed Abdelsattar
Ali, Hamdi Mohamed
Elhalim, Abd Elhalim Mohamed Abd
Mahmoud, Mohamed
Mohamed, Asmaa Abdelaal
Mohamed, Doaa Fathy
Shama, Ahmed Abdelaziz Abdelaziz
Hagras, Ayman M.
Ali, Hazem Abd Allah
Abdelhakim, Ahmed Mohamed
Saleh, Mohamed
Badawy, Mahmoud A.
Bakry, Mohamed Sobhy
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Abdelhakim, AM (通讯作者),Cairo Univ, Kasr Al Ainy Fac Med, 395 Portsaid St, Cairo 11638, Egypt.
Objective: To evaluate the impact of virtual reality on pain management during normal labor. Methods: A systematic search was performed in September 2021 through PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus, and ISI web of science. We selected randomized clinical trials (RCTs) that compared virtual reality in the intervention group versus placebo or no intervention in the control group among laboring women during their normal delivery. Revman software was used for performing our meta-analysis. Our primary outcome was the pain score evaluated during the labor process by the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Our secondary outcomes were anxiety and satisfaction scores during childbirth in addition to the duration of the first and second stages of labor. Results: Eight RCTs met our inclusion criteria with a total number of 466 patients. We found virtual reality was linked to a significant reduction in the VAS pain score during labor compared to the control group (MD =-1.40, 95% CI [-1.83,-0.96], p < 0.001). The anxiety score during labor was significantly reduced among the virtual reality group (SMD =-1.15, 95% CI [-2.18,-0.12], p = 0.03). Moreover, virtual reality significantly improved the satisfaction score during labor (MD = 15.58, 95% CI [4.93, 26.22], p = 0.004). However, there were no significant differences between virtual reality and control groups regarding the duration of the first and second stages of labor. Conclusions: Virtual reality is an effective technique for reducing anxiety, increasing satisfaction, and improving pain management during normal labor.