Virtual reality applied to home-visit rehabilitation for hemiplegic shoulder pain in a stroke patient: a case report
- VernacularTitle:Virtual reality applied to home-visit rehabilitation for hemiplegic shoulder pain in a stroke patient: a case report
- Author:
Hiroki FUNAO
1
;
Mayumi TSUJIKAWA
1
;
Ryo MOMOSAKI
2
;
Motomu SHIMAOKA
3
Author Information
- Keywords: home-visit rehabilitation; virtual reality; post-stroke hemiplegic shoulder pain
- From:Journal of Rural Medicine 2021;16(3):174-178
- CountryJapan
- Language:English
- Abstract: Objectives: Virtual reality (VR) has been shown to facilitate rehabilitation at hospitals by distracting patients’ attention from pain and by providing a virtual environment favorable for motivating the patients to continue rehabilitation. However, the application of VR in a home-visit rehabilitation remains to be validated. Here, we report a case in which home-visit rehabilitation using immersive VR was effective for post-stroke hemiplegic shoulder pain.Case presentation: After treatment, at a general hospital, for the hypertensive hemorrhage in the right brain capsule that resulted in the residual attention deficit disorder and left hemiplegia, a 63-year-old woman was cared for with a home-visit rehabilitation in a rural area. The patient had persistent pain in her left shoulder, which increased during activities of daily living and during rehabilitation, and the pain precluded rehabilitation. A VR relaxation program was delivered to the patient to alleviate pain during rehabilitation. Her shoulder pain was successfully alleviated using VR during training for muscle stretching and passive joint mobilization.Conclusion: The application of VR to home rehabilitation in rural areas may augment the effectiveness of home rehabilitation by alleviating pain during the procedure and sustaining the motivation for home rehabilitation.
