EP24.37: Virtual reality for alleviating pain and anxiety during transvaginal sonography for endometriosis: a prospective randomised controlled study

To evaluate the efficacy of VR for alleviating pain and anxiety in patients undergoing transvaginal sonography (TVS) for endometriosis. This was a prospective randomised controlled study, carried out at a single tertiary center between December 2023 and March 2024. Women who were scheduled for TVS for endometriosis, were randomly assigned for VR-assisted or conventional TVS. Pain and anxiety were assessed before and immediately after TVS using 1-10 numeric pain rating scale, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-s) questioner. Primary outcomes were changes in pain and anxiety scores. Fifty-five women were enrolled to the study, 32 were assigned to VR-assisted and 23 to conventional TVS. Some of the participants independently took analgesics before the examination. The proportion of women who took analgesics prior to TVS was significantly lower in the VR-assisted group compared to conventional TVS group (12.5% vs. 52.2%, P=0.01). Other baseline parameters did not differ between the groups. The changes of pain and anxiety scores are presented in table 1. This study confirms the effectiveness of VR in reducing pain and anxiety during TVS for endometriosis. VR users experienced greater improvements in scores despite using less analgesics, highlighting the benefits of VR. Larger studies are needed to establish VR as standard tool for the management of pain and anxiety during TVS for endometriosis. VR-assisted (n = 32)