Pulmonary and Physical Virtual Reality Exercises for Patients With Blunt Chest Trauma: Randomized Clinical Trial

This study aimed to assess the effectivity of breathing and physical exercises using VR on the pulmonary recovery of patients with blunt chest trauma at the ward. A pilot randomized controlled trial was performed. The control group received usual physiotherapy consisting of protocolized breathing exercises (8 times daily for 10 minutes) and physical exercises (2 times daily for 10 minutes). The VR group was instructed to perform these exercises using VR. The primary outcome was vital lung capacity at day 5 or earlier at discharge. Secondary outcomes were patient mobility (time standing, lying, and sitting), clinical outcomes (length of hospital stay, pulmonary complications, transfer to intensive care unit, and readmission within 30 days), pain, activities of daily living, patient-reported outcome measures (satisfaction and quality of recovery). Patient experiences and barriers and facilitators toward implementation were assessed through interviews. Published are the research protocol, database, codebook and syntaxes for analysis.