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Telehealth and Virtual Reality Technologies in Chronic Pain Management: A Narrative Review

  • Chronic Pain Medicine (O Viswanath, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

This review provides medical practitioners with an overview of the present and emergent roles of telehealth and associated virtual reality (VR) applications in chronic pain (CP) management, particularly in the post-COVID-19 healthcare landscape.

Recent Findings

Accumulated evidence points to the efficacy of now well-established telehealth modalities, such as videoconferencing, short messaging service (SMS), and mobile health (mHealth) applications in complementing remote CP care. More recently, and although still in early phases of clinical implementation, a wide range of VR-based interventions have demonstrated potential for improving the asynchronous remote management of CP. Additionally, VR-associated technologies at the leading edge of science and engineering, such as VR-assisted biofeedback, haptic technology, high-definition three-dimensional (HD3D) conferencing, VR-enabled interactions in a Metaverse, and the use of wearable monitoring devices, herald a new era for remote, synchronous patient-physician interactions. These advancements hold the potential to facilitate remote physical examinations, personalized remote care, and innovative interventions such as ultra-realistic biofeedback. Despite the promise of VR-associated technologies, several limitations remain, including the paucity of robust long-term effectiveness data, heterogeneity of reported pain-related outcomes, challenges with scalability and insurance coverage, and demographic-specific barriers to patient acceptability. Future research efforts should be directed toward mitigating these limitations to facilitate the integration of telehealth-associated VR into the conventional management of CP.

Summary

Despite ongoing barriers to widespread adoption, recent evidence suggests that VR-based interventions hold an increasing potential to complement and enhance the remote delivery of CP care.

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Data Availability

No datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study.

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Author notes

  1. Ivo H. Cerda, Alexandra Therond, and Sacha Moreau contributed equally.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Harvard Medical School, 25 Shattuck St, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Ivo H. Cerda, Min Lang, Christopher Gilligan, Sait Ashina & R. Jason Yong

  2. Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Alexandra Therond

  3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, MA, USA

    Sacha Moreau & Aleksy R. Donjow

  4. Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Kachina Studer

  5. Department Mechanical Engineering, Cambridge, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, USA

    Kachina Studer

  6. Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, University of Massachusetts, Worcester, MA, USA

    Jason E. Crowther

  7. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, John A, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA

    Maria Emilia Mazzolenis

  8. Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Min Lang

  9. Pain Management Department in the Anesthesiology Institute, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE

    Reda Tolba

  10. Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Christopher Gilligan & R. Jason Yong

  11. Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA

    Sait Ashina

  12. Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care, and Pain Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA

    Sait Ashina & Christopher L. Robinson

  13. Department of Anesthesiology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport, Shreveport, LA, USA

    Alan D. Kaye

  14. Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care, and Pain Medicine, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    Michael E. Schatman

  15. Department of Population Health-Division of Medical Ethics, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    Michael E. Schatman

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Contributions

IHC, AT, SM, and CLR conceptualized the original idea. IHC, AT, and SM conducted the literature review and drafted the first draft of the manuscript. All authors provided critical reviews and edited subsequent versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ivo H. Cerda.

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Conflict of Interest

Author IHC receives consulting fees from Layer Health. AT, SM, and ARD are co-founders and equity holders of AugMend Health. ML is an Associate Partner at MEDA Angels and Vice President of Operations at AMXRAAS. RT receives consulting fees from Abbott and Medtronic. AS provided consulting and teaching services for Allergan/Abbvie, Eli Lilly and Company, Impel NeuroPharma, Linpharma, Lundbeck, Satsuma, Percept, Pfizer, Teva, and Theranica. MES serves as a research consultant to Modoscript and was a member of an Advisory Committee for Syneos Health. CLR is an equity owner and advisor for AugMend Health.

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Cerda, I.H., Therond, A., Moreau, S. et al. Telehealth and Virtual Reality Technologies in Chronic Pain Management: A Narrative Review. Curr Pain Headache Rep 28, 83–94 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-023-01205-3

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