National Geographic - USA (2020-01)

During surgery,
Brent Bauer eases his
pain by playing a vir-
tual reality game called
SnowWorld. Orthope-
dic trauma surgeon
Reza Firoozabadi at
UW Medicine’s Harbor-
view Medical Center
in Seattle was testing
the effectiveness of
the game, developed
by the University of
Washington’s Hunter
Hoffman, a pioneer in
VR for pain relief. Bauer
fell three stories and
broke numerous bones,
including his pelvis. He
had one stabilizing pin
removed from his pelvis
without VR. “That got
very intense,” he said.
The other was removed
with VR. “It was a very
pleasant distraction,”
he noted, “and the pain
was a lot less.” Bauer
was participating in a
study that suggests
VR could decrease the
need for general anes-
thesia, reducing the
risks and cost.
CRAIG CUTLER