Table1_The role of virtual reality as adjunctive therapy to spinal cord stimulation in chronic pain: A feasible concept?.docx

Spinal cord stimulation and virtual reality therapy are established and promising techniques, respectively, for managing chronic pain, each with its unique advantages and challenges. While each therapy has been the subject of significant research interest, the prospect of combining the two modalities to offer a synergistic effect in chronic pain therapy is still in its infancy. In this narrative review, we assess the state of the field combining virtual reality as an adjunctive therapy to spinal cord stimulation in chronic pain. We also review the broader field of virtual reality therapy for acute and chronic pain, considering evidence related to feasibility in the Canadian healthcare system from cost and patient satisfaction perspectives. While early results show promise, there are unexplored aspects of spinal cord stimulation combined with virtual reality therapy, particularly long-term effects on analgesia, anxiolysis, and implications on the effectiveness and longevity of spinal cord stimulation. The infrastructure for billing virtual reality as a consult service or therapy must also catch up if it is eventually used to supplement spinal cord stimulation for chronic pain.

脊髓刺激与虚拟现实疗法分别作为治疗慢性疼痛的成熟且具有潜力的技术，各具独特的优势和挑战。尽管这两种疗法都已成为研究的热点，但将两者相结合以在慢性疼痛治疗中产生协同效应的前景仍处于起步阶段。在本篇综述中，我们评估了将虚拟现实作为脊髓刺激辅助疗法的慢性疼痛领域的现状。同时，我们还审视了虚拟现实疗法在急性与慢性疼痛治疗领域的更广泛研究，从成本和患者满意度两个角度，考虑了其在加拿大医疗体系中的可行性证据。尽管早期结果显示出希望，但脊髓刺激与虚拟现实疗法相结合的未探索方面仍存在，尤其是对镇痛、焦虑缓解的影响，以及对脊髓刺激疗效和持久性的潜在影响。此外，若虚拟现实疗法最终被用于补充慢性疼痛的脊髓刺激，其作为咨询服务或疗法的收费基础设施也必须跟上步伐。