Clinical trial · Interventional
Evaluation of a Pre-surgical Virtual Reality Simulation for Cancer Surgery Patients
Preoperative Virtual Reality for Cancer Surgery Patients: A Feasibility and Pilot Study
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
This study will pilot test and explore the feasibility of a virtual reality simulation of the operating room environment to reduce anxiety/distress in cancer surgery patients. Study objectives are to evaluate recruitment and data collection procedures, outcome measures, participant feedback on the virtual reality operating room intervention, and the inclusion of a treatment as usual group, and effects of the intervention on symptoms of anxiety/distress. Results of this study will inform the design of an upcoming larger-scale RCT to assess the efficacy of this intervention
Conditions
Conditions (1)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anxiety State | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
Interventions
Interventions (1)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual reality operating room simulation | Device | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (2)
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Intervention group
- description
- Participants will be exposed to a virtual reality simulation of the operating room environment for a minimum of ten minutes.
- interventionNames
- Device: Virtual reality operating room simulation
- type
- NO_INTERVENTION
- label
- Treatment as usual group
- description
- Participants will receive standard of care with no additional intervention aside from information received at their surgical oncology appointment and optional preoperative education classes (available to all patients).
Primary outcomes (2)
- measure
- Self-reported impressions of the virtual reality operating room simulation
- timeFrame
- Baseline
- description
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * Over the age of 18 * Can speak and read English * Has a cancer diagnosis * Scheduled/being scheduled to undergo cancer surgery under general anesthesia at the Health Sciences Centre (Winnipeg, MB) Exclusion Criteria: * Those who do not meet any inclusion criteria * Those who are not competent to provide informed consent (e.g., due to cognitive impairment) * Those who are unable to participate in a virtual reality intervention (e.g., due to visual/auditory impairment)
References
Publications (3)
- DERIVEDEl-Gabalawy R, Logan GS, Hebbard P, Sommer JL, Reynolds K, Penner KE, Smith MSD, Mota N, Mutch WAC, Mollanji E, Maples-Keller JL, Perrin D, Arora RC. An Interactive Preoperative Virtual Reality Intervention for Breast Cancer Patients Undergoing Oncological Surgery: A Feasibility and Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial. J Surg Oncol. 2026 Jul;134(1):5-15. doi: 10.1002/jso.70269. Epub 2026 Apr 23. PMID 42024710
- DERIVEDEl-Gabalawy R, Sommer JL, Hebbard P, Reynolds K, Logan GS, Smith MSD, Mutter TC, Mutch WA, Mota N, Proulx C, Gagnon Shaigetz V, Maples-Keller JL, Arora RC, Perrin D, Benedictson J, Jacobsohn E. An Immersive Virtual Reality Intervention for Preoperative Anxiety and Distress Among Adults Undergoing Oncological Surgery: Protocol for a 3-Phase Development and Feasibility Trial. JMIR Res Protoc. 2024 May 14;13:e55692. doi: 10.2196/55692. PMID 38743939
- DERIVEDSommer JL, Reynolds K, Hebbard P, Smith MSD, Mota N, Mutch WAC, Maples-Keller J, Roos L, El-Gabalawy R. Preoperative Virtual Reality to Expose Patients With Breast Cancer to the Operating Room Environment: Feasibility and Pilot Case Series Study. JMIR Form Res. 2024 Jan 17;8:e46367. doi: 10.2196/46367. PMID 38231570