Virtual reality for spinal cord injury-associated neuropathic pain: Systematic review

Objective:To investigate changes in body ownership and chronic neuropathic pain in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) using multisensory own body illusions and virtual reality (VR).Methods:Twenty patients with SCI with paraplegia and 20 healthy control participants (HC) participated in 2 factorial, randomized, repeated-measures design studies. In the virtual leg illusion (VLI), we applied asynchronous or synchronous visuotactile stimulation to the participant's back (either immediately above the lesion level or at the shoulder) and to the virtual legs as seen on a VR head-mounted display. We tested the effect of the VLI on the sense of leg ownership (questionnaires) and on perceived neuropathic pain (visual analogue scale pain ratings). We compared illusory leg ownership with illusory global body ownership (induced in the full body illusion [FBI]), by applying asynchronous or synchronous visuotactile stimulation to the participant's back and the back of a virtual body as seen on a head-mounted display.Results:Our data show that patients with SCI are less sensitive to multisensory stimulations inducing illusory leg ownership (as compared to HC) and that leg ownership decreased with time since SCI. In contrast, we found no differences between groups in global body ownership as tested in the FBI. VLI and FBI were both associated with mild analgesia that was only during the VLI specific for synchronous visuotactile stimulation and the lower back position.Conclusions:The present findings show that VR exposure using multisensory stimulation differently affected leg vs body ownership, and is associated with mild analgesia with potential for SCI neurorehabilitation protocols.

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Effectiveness of virtual reality on balance ability in individuals with incomplete spinal cord injury: A systematic review

Journal of Clinical Neuroscience ◽

10.1016/j.jocn.2020.01.037 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 72 ◽

pp. 322-327

Author(s):

Anas R. Alashram ◽

Elvira Padua ◽

Ahmad K. Hammash ◽

Mauro Lombardo ◽

Giuseppe Annino

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Spinal Cord ◽

Spinal Cord Injury ◽

Virtual Reality ◽

Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury ◽

Cord Injury ◽

Balance Ability

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Virtual reality rehabilitation system for neuropathic pain and motor dysfunction in spinal cord injury patients

2011 International Conference on Virtual Rehabilitation ◽

10.1109/icvr.2011.5971865 ◽

2011 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Michael Villiger ◽

Marie-Claude Hepp-Reymond ◽

Pawel Pyk ◽

Daniel Kiper ◽

Kynan Eng ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spinal Cord ◽

Spinal Cord Injury ◽

Virtual Reality ◽

Neuropathic Pain ◽

Motor Dysfunction ◽

Cord Injury ◽

Rehabilitation System ◽

Virtual Reality Rehabilitation

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Efficacy of Virtual Reality in Neurorehabilitation of Spinal Cord Injury Patients: A Systematic Review

10.17488/rmib.42.2.8 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

B. A. Orsatti-Sánchez

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Spinal Cord ◽

Spinal Cord Injury ◽

Virtual Reality ◽

Methodological Quality ◽

Emotional Health ◽

Functional Improvement ◽

Health Improvement ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Cord Injury

This systematic review (SR) analyzed the effectiveness of interventions using virtual reality (VR) technology as a neurorehabilitation therapy in people with spinal cord injury (SCI). The SR was developed under the guidelines of the PRISMA statement and the recommendations of the Cochrane Collaboration, along with the PEDro and National Institute of Health scales to assess the risk of bias and methodological quality. The Cochrane, IEEE, BVS/LILACS, MEDLINE/PubMed, and Web of Science databases were browsed to identify studies that, between 2010 and 2020, evaluated the efficacy of these therapies. Out of 353 retrieved studies, 11 were finally selected after the application of the defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. These articles presented good methodological quality as they were mostly controlled clinical trials that analyzed mixed therapies with conventional therapies. Interventions based on non-immersive or immersive VR technology that achieved functional motor, balance, and psycho-emotional health improvement with positive effects on motivation, self-confidence, commitment, and active participation were identified in a total sample of 155 SCI patients. It was concluded that such VR technology is an effective tool of neurorehabilitation complementary to conventional therapies, which promotes functional improvement in SCI patients both in the clinic and at home.

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Visual Illusion for the Management of Neuropathic Pain after Spinal Cord Injury: A Systematic Review

Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation ◽

10.1016/j.apmr.2017.08.458 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 98 (10) ◽

pp. e140-e141

Author(s):

Swati Mehta ◽

Andreea Cotoi ◽

Shannon Janzen ◽

Scott Janssen ◽

Eldon Loh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Spinal Cord ◽

Spinal Cord Injury ◽

Neuropathic Pain ◽

Visual Illusion ◽

Cord Injury

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Is Virtual Reality Effective for Balance Recovery in Patients with Spinal Cord Injury? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Journal of Clinical Medicine ◽

10.3390/jcm9092861 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (9) ◽

pp. 2861

Author(s):

Amaranta De Miguel-Rubio ◽

M. Dolores Rubio ◽

Alejandro Salazar ◽

Jose A. Moral-Munoz ◽

Francisco Requena ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Spinal Cord ◽

Spinal Cord Injury ◽

Virtual Reality ◽

Confidence Interval ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Cochrane Central Register ◽

Cord Injury ◽

Functional Reach Test ◽

Evidence Database

Virtual reality (VR) is an emerging tool used in the neurological rehabilitation of patients with spinal cord injury (SCI), focused on recovering balance, mobility, and motor function, among other functional outcomes. The main objective of this study was to analyze the effectiveness of VR systems to recover balance in patients with SCI. The literature search was performed between October and December 2019 in the following databases: Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL, Scopus, Medline, Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro), PubMed, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. The methodological quality of each study was assessed using the Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Evidence (SCIRE) system and the PEDro scale, while the risk of bias was analyzed by the Cochrane Collaboration’s tool. A total of 12 studies, involving 188 participants, were included in the systematic review, of which two were included in the meta-analysis. Statistical analysis showed favorable results for balance measured by the modified Functional Reach Test (standardized mean difference (SMD) = 3.42; 95% confidence interval: 2.54 to 4.29) and by the t-shirt test (SMD= −2.29; 95% confidence interval: −3.00 to −1.59). The results showed that VR interventions provided potential benefits, in addition to conventional physical therapy, to recover balance in patients with SCI.

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