Review found lower procedural pain with virtual reality in children receiving burn care
The pooled result favored virtual reality for pain during wound care. Evidence for longer-term psychological recovery was limited, and the pooled music-therapy result was not statistically significant.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
The review found lower procedural pain with virtual reality in children receiving burn care. That result addresses pain during treatment, rather than recovery from anxiety, depression, or traumatic stress over time. Evidence for longer-term psychological interventions was limited, and music therapy did not show a statistically significant pooled effect despite some favorable individual study findings.
The abstract does not describe comparator conditions or follow-up durations and gives little detail about study quality. This abstract-based summary therefore cannot fully assess reliability or applicability to particular burn-care settings.
What researchers found
Procedural pain: standardized mean difference
Virtual reality versus comparator conditions not described in the abstract, during wound care; lower pain scores favored virtual reality (P < .0001).
Reading the standardized difference
The pooled difference was -0.95 standard deviations: average pain scores were lower with virtual reality. This unit expresses the gap relative to score variability, not a percentage reduction or the pain relief any individual child experienced.
Longer-term recovery stays uncertain
Psychological, creative, and social-support approaches produced varied findings. The review found limited robust evidence for longer-term psychological outcomes, so results on pain during procedures cannot be extended to broader mental-health recovery.
The original publication
Pain, Distress, and Psychological Sequelae in Pediatric Burn Care: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Interventions Across the Care Continuum.
Nguyen A, Chikoti R, Bell D
J Burn Care Res · 2026
- PubMed ID
- 41081740
- Record checked
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