Perioperative immersive virtual reality intervention for acute and persistent postoperative pain after video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery: A randomized controlled trial.

Linear mixed-effects models showed significant group effects, time effects, and group × time interactions for resting pain, pain on deep breathing, and pain scores during coughing over postoperative days 1-3.

In Holm-adjusted time-point-specific comparisons, the virtual reality group showed lower pain scores at selected postoperative time points across the three pain dimensions.

A ≥30% reduction in pain during coughing was achieved in 48.1% of virtual reality patients versus 16.7% of controls (P = 0.001).