VR-IC (virtual reality in intensive care) clinical trial protocol: a program for the prevention of delirium and complications of long-term ICU patients using virtual reality

Background. Delirium is one of the factors that increases the length of stay of a patient in the intensive care unit, and the length of stay of patients on mechanical ventilation leads to an increase in the mortality of patients in the ICU. The incidence of delirium in the ICU reaches 80%. Existing pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods for preventing delirium have not shown sufficient effectiveness, and therefore the search for a method for preventing delirium remains an urgent medical problem. We propose the use of virtual reality (VR) to study the impact of immersive virtual reality on the incidence of delirium in the intensive care unit.

Objective. Evaluation of the effect of using VR on the incidence of delirium and complications of long-term ICU stay.

Methods. The protocol involves conducting a prospective randomized study in the intensive care units (ICUs) of the Veresaev City Clinical Hospital named after of the Moscow Healthcare Department. The study will involve 200 patients in ICUs. Patients will be randomized into equal groups: 100 ICU patients in the control group will receive standard therapy; in the intervention group, in addition to standard therapy, VR will be used 2 times a day. The primary endpoint will be the occurrence of delirium. In addition, patients in our study will undergo EEG monitoring.

Conclusion. VR-IC (virtual reality in intensive care) is the first Russian study of the effectiveness of VR for the prevention of delirium and complications of a long stay in the ICU. In addition, this is the first study to use EEG monitoring to evaluate associations between EEG findings and delirium.