An interventional study of In-person cognitive behavioral therapy and Virtual reality-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy in Post-surgical Pain, sponsored by Mayo Clinic. Active, not recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-11-09.
Sponsored by Mayo Clinic · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
The purpose of this research is to compare post-surgical pain of patients having the cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to those patients not receiving the additional intervention.
5,640 studies on the registry are indexed under Pain, Postoperative; 1,230 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 80 is close to the median of 75 across 4,821 interventional studies indexed under Pain, Postoperative.
Browse Pain, Postoperative studies →Mayo Clinic is the lead sponsor of 3,269 studies on the registry; 672 are open to participants now.
Of its 452 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 321 (71%) have results posted.
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Exclusion Criteria:
Participants receive standard preoperative education and postoperative care processes for elective colorectal surgery.
Participants receive usual care plus a 1-hour preoperative CBT session at least 1 week before
Behavioral: In-person cognitive behavioral therapy
Participants receive usual care plus a 30-minute virtual reality (VR) immersive CBT intervention before surgery using a Meta Quest 2 headset and a 30-minute check-in call within 48 hours of surgery.
Behavioral: Virtual reality-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy
The intervention consists of a 1-hour, in-person cognitive behavioral therapy session delivered at least 1 week before surgery. The session is intended to address pain-related thoughts, expectations, coping strategies, and behavioral approaches for managing acute postoperative pain. Participants also receive a 30-minute check-in telephone call within 48 hours before surgery and may receive a QR code or website link to review intervention content after the session.
The intervention consists of a 30-minute, non-interactive virtual reality immersive experience delivered before surgery using a Meta Quest 2 headset in the clinic setting. The virtual reality content is designed to provide cognitive behavioral therapy material similar to the in-person CBT arm, including pain education, expectation setting, coping strategies, and behavioral approaches for managing acute postoperative pain. Participants also receive a 30-minute check-in telephone call within 48 hours before surgery and may receive a QR code or website link to review intervention content after the session.
Change in Pain Catastrophizing Scale Score
The Pain Catastrophizing Scale is a participant-reported questionnaire that measures catastrophic thinking related to pain. The total score ranges from 0 to 52, with higher scores indicating greater pain catastrophizing.
Time frame: Within 24 hours post-surgery (prior to hospital discharge), 1 month post-discharge
Average Postoperative Numeric Pain Rating Scale Score During Inpatient Hospitalization
Postoperative pain intensity will be measured using the Numeric Pain Rating Scale documented in the electronic medical record. Scores range from 0 to 10, where 0 indicates no pain and 10 indicates the worst possible pain. The average score during the inpatient postoperative hospitalization will be summarized for each participant.
Time frame: From surgery completion through hospital discharge (approximately 5 days)
Total Inpatient Opioid Use After Surgery
Total opioid medication administered after surgery during the inpatient postoperative hospitalization will be abstracted from the electronic medical record, reported as morphine milligram equivalents
Time frame: From surgery completion through hospital discharge (approximately 5 days)
Number of Participants Prescribed an Opioid at Hospital Discharge
The number of participants with an opioid medication prescribed at hospital discharge will be abstracted from the discharge medication record.
Time frame: At hospital discharge after surgery (approximately 5 days)
Change Surgical Recovery Scale Score
The Surgical Recovery Scale is a participant-reported questionnaire used to assess recovery after surgery. The scale consists of 13 questions, scored on a scale of 0 = Not at All and 5 = All of the Time. Higher scores indicate better recovery toward pre-surgical physical, functional, and social status.
Time frame: Within 24 hours before hospital discharge after surgery, 1 month post-discharge
Number of Participants With an Opioid Prescription Refill After Discharge
The number of participants with at least one opioid prescription refill after hospital
Time frame: From hospital discharge through 1 month after discharge
Number of Participants With an Emergency Department Visit After Discharge
The number of participants with at least one emergency department visit after hospital discharge will be abstracted from the medical record.
Time frame: From hospital discharge through 1 month after discharge
Number of Participants Readmitted to the Hospital After Discharge
The number of participants with at least one hospital readmission after hospital discharge
Time frame: From hospital discharge through 1 month after discharge
Plan to share: No
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
This study is active, not recruiting, as verified in Nov 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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