The effect of virtual reality glasses and ice application on the level of pain during femoral sheath removal in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention

Patients may experience pain after percutaneous coronary intervention, which is an effective method in the treatment of acute coronary syndromes frequently encountered in the clinic. Since pain is the fifth vital sign, it should be taken under control and appropriate nursing interventions should be planned. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of virtual reality glasses on the level of pain due to femoral sheath removal and to determine whether there is a significant difference between the glasses and ice application. The population of this randomized controlled experimental type study consisted of all patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention in the hospital where the study was conducted between July 2021 and November 2022, and the sample consisted of 108 patients who met the inclusion criteria according to G-power analysis. The data were collected using the Patient Diagnosis Form, Numerical Rating Scale and Vital Sign Follow-up Form, Virtual Reality Glasses Application Patient Experience Form and Ice Application Patient Experience Form. The data were transferred to the SPSS 23 package program and tested by Kruskall Wallis H Test, t-Test, Mann Whitney U test and one-way analysis of variance. There was a statistically significant difference among the groups in terms of pain scores during Sheath removal (p<0.05). The pain score of the virtual reality group was found to be statistically significantly lower than the ice and control groups, and that of the ice group was statistically significantly lower than the control group. There was a statistically significant difference among the groups in terms of diastolic blood pressure and respiratory values immediately after sheath removal (p<0.05). The diastolic blood pressure of the patients in the virtual reality group was higher than the other groups and the respiratory rate was lower than the other groups. There was no significant difference determined among the groups in terms of time-dependent changes in other vital signs (p>0.05). As a result, it was determined that virtual reality application was effective in relieving pain due to femoral sheath removal. It is recommended to use virtual reality application to relieve pain due to femoral sheath removal.