Clinical efficacy of immersive virtual reality technology combined with early rehabilitation training for postoperative patients with rotator cuff injuries
LI Feifei, CAI Chenchen, WU Qiaoyun, Jiang Xixi,Zheng Yuyin, Jiang Songhe.
Center of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325000, China
LI Feifei,CAI Chenchen,WU Qiaoyun, et al. Clinical efficacy of immersive virtual reality technology combined with early rehabilitation training for postoperative patients with rotator cuff injuries[J]. JOURNAL OF WEZHOU MEDICAL UNIVERSITY, 2024, 54(5): 371-377.
Abstract：Objective: To observe the effect of immersive virtual reality technology (VR) combined with early rehabilitation training on the early and mid-term rehabilitation treatment of postoperative patients with rotator cuff injury. Methods: Forty-five patients who underwent the initial rotator cuff repair in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University between April 2023 and November 2023 and met the inclusion criteria were selected as subjects. They were randomly divided as the experimental group (n=22) cases and the control group (n=23). From 0 to 2 weeks after the operation, routine passive rehabilitation training was performed in both groups; from 2 to 6 weeks post-operation, the control group adopted early rehabilitation training, and the experimental group, on the basis of early rehabilitation, was given immersive virtual reality system for upper limb motor function training. The VAS pain visual analog scale score, UCLA shoulder score, shoulder joint active and passive forward flexion and external rotation mobility, and cross-sectional area of the supraspinatus muscle
on the affected side (CSA) were evaluated before and after 4 weeks of treatment, respectively, in both groups.Results: During the study 1 case in the experimental group and 2 cases in the control group who failed to finish were thus excluded. There were 21 cases who completed in either group and were included in the final efficacy analysis. After treatment, VAS score decreased, UCLA score increased, active and passive forward flexion activity and CSA of the affected supraspinatus muscle increased compared with the pre-treatment period, and active and passive external rotation of the arm increased compared with the pre-treatment period in the experimental group, and all the indexes of the experimental group improved significantly compared with the control group,with significant difference (P<0.05). In the control group, there was no significant increase in the active-passive posting arm external rotation angle compared with the pre-treatment period (P>0.05), and both groups showed a
significant correlation between the supraspinatus CSA and the UCLA shoulder joint score (P<0.05). Conclusion:Immersive VR combined with early rehabilitation can effectively reduce patients’ pain, increase shoulder joint mobility, improve patients' functional activities, and promote the repair of supraspinatus tendon.
