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Mexican Surgeon Uses VR Headset To Distract Patients During Surgery (bbc.com)
dryriver writes: The BBC has a longish story on a Mexican surgeon who makes his patients wear a VR headset that distracts them from the surgical procedure being performed on them. While Dr Mosso cuts and removes and stitches, the patient flies through a 3D VR re-creation of Machu Picchu or other fantastical places, oblivious to being in an otherwise -- for many patients -- stress inducing surgical setting. This removes the need to give patients powerful sedatives or painkillers to keep them calm and prevent their blood pressure from fluctuating. The surgeon only anesthetizes the part of the body where the surgery is performed, while the patient is absorbed in colorful and immersive VR worlds. An excerpt from the report: "The surgeon makes his first cut and blood spills down Ana's leg. She's surrounded by medical equipment -- stools, trolleys, swabs, syringes -- with super-bright surgical lamps suspended above the bed. Her vital signs are displayed on monitors just behind. But Ana is oblivious. She's immersed in a three-dimensional re-creation of Machu Picchu. She begins her journey with a breathtaking aerial view of the ancient city clinging to the mountainside, before swooping down to explore the details of stepped terraces, moss-covered walls and tiny stone huts. Mosso watches her carefully. A 54-year-old surgeon at Panamerican University in Mexico City, he's on a mission to bring virtual reality into the operating room. Mosso is using VR as a high-tech distraction technique, allowing surgeons to carry out operations that would normally require powerful painkillers and sedatives, with nothing more than local anaesthetic. He's trying to prove that reducing drug doses in this way not only slashes costs for Mexico's cash-strapped hospitals, but cuts complications and recovery times for patients too."
Nice for those hospitals who can afford high tech entertainment devices and the attendant communication systems required. Could be iffy though if there is a bad connection.
There is a better way to 'distract' the patient. Hypnosis. It's free aside from the need for a skilled operator. No equipment or communication devices required. The operator doesn't even have to be present in the arena.
Not only can hypnosis distract the patient, it can allow the patient to participate in the procedure. Being fully aware, the patient can move muscles, control blood flow and report to the surgeon various sensations.
Countless births and surgical operations have been enhanced with hypnosis. I personally had three teeth pulled with only a mild hypnotic sedation. There was no pain, no bleeding at the time or after although I was fully aware of the crunching of bone during the extraction and the vigorous muscle applied to get those molars out. I spit chunks of bone for several days after.
Hypnosis is associated with magic in the uneducated mind. It's a shame. There is no more natural way to be in tune and in control of our bodies and minds.
...omphaloskepsis often...
You might not forget, but it plus the local anesthetic makes it easy to ignore.
You can definitely ignore it.
After one of my many Hockey accidents, I had to get a bunch of metal put into my lower leg and near my ankle. During prep for surgery, they gave me a nice shot of "I don't give a damn". It wasn't a pain killer, but I gotta tell ya, I was one unconcerned person. With that, and a spinal tap. I was awake for the whole procedure. A little foggy, but I was conversing the whole time with the surgeons.
It was actually kinda cool, because I had questions about the various machinery they were using. They told the wife I must either be a scientist or an engineer for all my yapping. Regardless, without the shot of happy juice, I wouldn't have had such an enjoyable experience. Wish I knew what it was.
But if we want to talk about the Icewater boot on me that sprung a leak in the middle of the night, and dumped a few gallons of really cold water on the family jewels - that part of the hospital visit sucked.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
I used to go to a dentist who offered patients those stupid Sony TV glasses where you could watch a movie.
Actually, I really liked it.
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You can't really watch them work - surgeons want a sterile field, and anesthesiologists prefer not to run the risk of getting splattered with bodily fluids. So we put up drapes to isolate the sterile field, and that's about all you can see as a patient. I can stand up and look over them to see how the operation is going, but you can't.
My wife broke her arm four or five years ago after tripping over the cat (cats are Satan's minions, I tell you), and she watched me do her nerve block under ultrasound. She (neurologist) thought that was pretty cool. But that was for post-op pain relief, not for the surgery - she was under general anesthesia during the case. Side note: if offered a nerve block, take it. A former partner in my group broke his ankle some years back and used to call one of his friends to come do a nerve block every afternoon so that he could sleep all night without pain. If I had been able to get one of the ultrasound machines home when my wife broke her arm, I'd have done the same.