OPU-LUX: Virtual Reality for Pain and Anxiety Management During Oocyte Pick-up (OPU-LUX)

OPU-LUX: Virtual Reality for Pain and Anxiety Management During Oocyte Pick-up - a Randomized Controlled Trial

In vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles are increasingly performed worldwide. Transvaginal oocyte pick-up (OPU) is a painful part of IVF. OPU in polyfollicular IVF is usually performed under sedation and pain relief. In natural cycle IVF or IVF with minimal stimulation OPU is possible without anesthesia. Mostly of the women reported experiencing mild to moderate pain when undergoing OPU without anesthesia. Nevertheless, there is a need for alternative pain treatment options during OPU to reduce the burden of IVF for patients. Virtual reality (VR) may have a role in acutely painful procedures as a non-pharmacological alternative. VR refers to the interactions between an individual and a computer-generated environment stimulating multiple sensory modalities. The immersive, entertaining effects of VR could be useful for redirecting the patient's attention away from painful treatment experiences and reducing anxiety, discomfort, or unpleasantness. Use of VR interventions has been studies in a wider range of medical treatment.

Women will be randomly assigned to an OPU in the control group with standard treatment, withouth analgesia (Group B).

Women will be randomly allocated to undergo OPU either with the use of virutal reality (group A) or the control group with standard treatment, without analgesia(group B). The participants of group A will wear the Oculus Quest 2 and will be surrounded by a virtual world. They will see objects flying towards themselves. They will be able to interact with the virtual world by hand controllers and can try to catch the objects.

Inclusion Criteria: Age between 18 and 43 years IVF with follicular aspiration of one to tree follicles Written informed consent signed by the participant must be obtained prior to OPU Exclusion Criteria: OPU with more than tree follicular aspiration Individuals' anatomy complicating the intervention (e. g. endometriosis stage III/IV) Application of analgesics within eight hours before OPU hearing impairments migraines seizure disorder vestibular abnormalities history of motion sickness