Jakarta, INTI - Hong Kong Children’s Hospital utilizes virtual reality (VR) technology to help young patients manage their stress and anxiety before an operation. The hospital aims to reduce traumatic memories and maintain young patients’ trust in medical staff by making operations a positive experience.
When patients use the VR headset, the VR program will show a panda character. The character will explain knowledge about the operation and guide them around an operating room. The VR program also allows patients to pick the colours of the medical staff’s gowns, choose how they want to be anaesthetized, and customise the flavor of sleep-inducing gas.
Children Become Less Stressed
The hospital’s Deputy Chief of Service of the Department of Anaesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Dr Vansie Kwok, said that the VR game is designed to ease patients’ anxiety. She also explained that fear of something comes from an unfamiliar environment.
“Based on previous studies, we found that the fear came from the unfamiliarity surrounding the environment, what the doctors would do to their bodies, and what would happen after they woke up, whether they would be in pain, among other things,” she said.
By utilizing this VR technology and program, young patients would come into the operating room less stressed. Then, their recovery progress after surgery would be faster. This is because if young patients undergo opeartion in a state of anxiety, they might experience post-anasthesia confusion and delirium. Some cases also have the patients getting nightmares and a fear of medical staff.
Mok Yi-tan, a department operations manager, said that the long-term impact of traumatic memory from surgery should not be underestimated, as it could affect how children view surgery when they grow up.
Started in 2023
Hong Kong Children’s Hospital worked with Hong Kong Polytechnic University, City University of Hong Kong, and local NGO Playright to develop the VR tour prototype in 2023. The program completed its clinical study in 2024 and was tested for effectiveness.
The study involved 70 children and parents. It was concluded that children who experienced the VR game were 20% less anxious than those who did not, and it was most effective for children aged 5 to 8. Then, in December 2025, the VR tour is offered as a regular 15-minute program in the hospital.
With the NGO Playright, the hospital brought in “pretend specialists” who would explain medical procedures with toys. Also with another NGO, Theodora Foundation, a trained entertainer called the “giggle doctor” would accompany the children to the operating room while performing magic tricks. Furthermore, parents were allowed to enter the operating room so their children would feel more secure, unless the surgery was complicated.
Conclusion
Hong Kong Children's Hospital uses VR technology to help children reduce pre-surgery stress by presenting an interactive simulation game that explains medical procedures in a fun way. The study for this program showed that the prpgram reduce children’s anxiety by up to 20%. Developed since 2023 in collaboration with universities and NGOs, the program also supports activities such as "pretend specialists" and "giggle doctors" to create a more positive surgical experience and reduce long-term trauma.
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