Virtual reality may replace pills for Pre-Surgery jitters
NCT ID NCT07450456
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tests whether using virtual reality can help patients feel calm before heart surgery, reducing their need for anxiety medication. About 40 adults who request medication for pre-surgery anxiety will try VR instead. The goal is to see if VR can provide comfort without the side effects of drugs.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 40 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Nov 2025
- Expected to finish
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Oct 2026
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * All patients undergoing elective surgery * Minimal age of 18-year-old * Able to give informed consent for the study * Requesting pharmacological premedication in the pre-operative period. Exclusion Criteria: * Lacking capacity or ability to complete the consent form or to respond to the required obligations linked to the study protocol * Contraindications to pharmacological premedication * Known cognitive dysfunction, previous history of neurological/psychiatric diseases like epilepsy * Non Italian speaking patients * Injuries to the head/face that would prohibit wearing headsets * Infectious skin conditions of the head/face * Contact isolation due to bacteria and viruses * Symptoms of vertigo or motion sickness * Reduced visual or auditory acuity * Pregnancy * Claustrophobia
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Istituto Cardiocentro
RECRUITINGLugano, Canton Ticino, 6900, Switzerland
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Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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