Virtual reality sessions delivered through headsets before planned surgeries significantly reduce stress in young patients and help normalize blood pressure and heart rate, according to a study by U.S. researchers published in the open-access journal PLOS Digital Health, infohub.kz reports.

Using virtual reality (VR) technology can substantially ease preoperative stress in children, lowering fear levels and improving physiological measures of blood pressure and heart rate. That is the conclusion of specialists at Virginia Commonwealth University in the United States. The nine-month study was led by Dayanjan Wijesinghe.

Preoperative anxiety affects between 50% and 75% of children facing surgery. The condition often complicates the induction of anesthesia, intensifies postoperative pain and prolongs recovery. Sedative medications carry risks of side effects, so doctors are actively seeking safe alternatives.

For the trial, researchers created special interactive scenarios for the Meta Quest headset: children could explore a virtual room or immerse themselves in a calming seascape.

The project involved 80 patients aged 6 to 15 awaiting planned surgical treatment at a U.S. children's hospital. Clinicians measured anxiety levels, heart rate and blood pressure immediately before and right after the VR session. Following the procedures, the median stress level on a 10-point scale fell from 3.0 to 1.0, while fear on a 4-point scale dropped from 1.0 to 0.0. A clinically significant improvement was recorded in more than half of the young participants: 57.5% for stress levels and 55% for fear levels.

Physiological measurements also showed positive trends: average heart rate fell by 5.8 beats per minute, and systolic blood pressure dropped by 4.1 millimeters of mercury. Lead author Walaa Abu Rukbah noted that nine out of ten young patients wanted to repeat the experience, and all 29 nurses involved recommended introducing the method into routine clinical practice. The researchers next plan to conduct a large-scale controlled study with a control group.