Paediatric hospitalisation, encompassing the period from admission to discharge, often involves feelings of pain, fear and anxiety, primarily due to clinical diagnoses and, more significantly, discomfort and stress-inducing procedures. Numerous methodologies and interventions have been investigated and implemented to alleviate these phenomena during paediatric hospitalisation. Virtual reality (VR), for example, has demonstrated efficacy in pain relief for hospitalised children in recent studies. This systematic review, therefore, aims to identify and evaluate the effectiveness of VR in alleviating pain, fear and anxiety in hospitalised children undergoing painful procedures.

This systematic review and meta-analysis will follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for Protocols guidelines. A systematic search will be conducted in March and April 2025 across the following databases, with no restrictions on language or publication year: PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, Cumulated Index in Nursing and Allied Health Literature, ClinicalTrials.gov and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Eligible studies will include randomised and quasi-randomised clinical trials involving children (aged 2–10 years) and adolescents (aged 10–18 years) who received VR interventions during painful procedures. Data will be managed and analysed using Review Manager software (RevMan 5.2.3). In cases of significant heterogeneity (I² > 50%), a random-effects model will be employed to combine studies and calculate the OR with a 95% CI. The methodological quality of the included studies will be assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias 2.0 tool, and the certainty of the evidence will be evaluated using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations framework.

This study will solely review published data; thus, ethical approval is not required. This systematic review is expected to provide subsidies, evidence and insights into the use of VR. It is also anticipated that the results will directly impact the improvement of care for these patients and the qualification of professional care.

CRD42024568297.

Acute pain in the postoperative period of cardiac surgery is mostly treated with opioid analgesics. However, with the risk of adverse reactions and complications, strategies which do not involve opioid analgesics can be considered, such as aromatherapy. This systematic review aims to analyse the effectiveness of aromatherapy in relieving pain in post-cardiac surgery patients.

Two researchers will independently and simultaneously conduct searches and select studies from the following databases: PubMed, Embase, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Latin American and Caribbean Literature on Health Sciences, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane (Library) and clinical trial registries (clinicaltrials.com), with no language or publication date restrictions. Randomised and quasi-randomised clinical trials on the use of aromatherapy for pain relief in postcardiac surgery patients will be included. Then, two researchers will independently examine the studies based on inclusion criteria, extract data from the included studies and assess the risk of bias using the Risk of Bias 2 tool and the Risk of Bias in Non-randomized Studies of Interventions tool from Cochrane. Data will be synthesised using Review Manager software. The strength of the evidence will be evaluated using the Grading of Recommendation Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach. The literature search, study selection, review and meta-analysis stages will be conducted from early October 2025 to April 2026.

This study is based on secondary data, and therefore ethical approval from a research ethics committee was not required. The results will be disseminated through publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

CRD42024568532.