Evaluation of Pain and Anxiety in Patients With an Invasive Procedure in Emergencies

Other techniques to create diversions proposed in the recommendations of the French Society of Emergency Medicine for the management of wounds in emergencies can be used to improve the experience of patients: the use speech during the gesture or certain forms of hypnosis. Pain and anxiety are two important factors to integrate to improve the management of patients in emergencies. To improve pain and anxiety, distraction is a technique that can be used. Virtual reality is a distraction technique not yet frequently used but studied. It combines the visual and the auditory allowing immersion in a virtual world thanks to a helmet retranscribing a three‐dimensional image. The diversion of attention through the use of virtual reality allows the patient to immerse themselves in a fictional environment through a mask on the eyes inhibiting the vision of the outside world and a headphone reducing external sounds and reinforcing the mechanism of 'immersion. The use of the virtual reality headset has already shown benefits during pain care in burn patients and children. The virtual reality headset has not yet been studied as a distraction tool for invasive and potentially painful care in emergencies.