Games for Health Journal · Nov 14, 2026

Efficacy of Virtual Reality Exercises in Sarcopenic Patients After Liver Transplantation: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Study

By Abdel-Aal NM, Kablawy MAE, Mostafa AA et al.

Objective: To investigate whether adding virtual reality (VR) exercise to conventional rehabilitation improves handgrip and pinch-grip strength, quadriceps muscle strength, respiratory function, quality of life (QoL), fatigue, and exercise capacity in sarcopenic patients after liver transplantation (LT). Design: A randomized clinical trial. Setting: Outpatient physical therapy clinics. Participants: Sixty patients suffering from sarcopenia after LT, aged 18–65 years, were randomly allocated to two equal groups. Intervention: The study group received VR exercise plus conventional physical therapy. The control group received conventional physical therapy only. Interventions were applied three times a week for 6 weeks. Outcome Measures: Handgrip strength (HGS), pinch-grip strength, quadriceps muscle strength, respiratory function, fatigue severity, QoL, and exercise capacity were measured at baseline and after 6 weeks of interventions. Results: Between-group differences were observed for HGS, pinch-grip strength, quadriceps muscle strength, respiratory function, fatigue severity, QoL, and exercise capacity after 6 weeks, favoring the study group ( P < 0.001). Mean differences (95% confidence interval) between groups were 9.55 kg (6.66, 12.44) for hand grip; 4.39 kg (2.27, 6.51) for quadriceps muscle strength; 172.31 meter (93.43, 251.19) for 6-minute walk test; −1.54 (−2.17, −0.91) for fatigue severity; and 12.70 (6.14, 19.26) for physical function after 6 weeks. Conclusions: Adding VR exercise to conventional rehabilitation was more beneficial than conventional rehabilitation alone in improving HGS, pinch-grip strength, quadriceps muscle strength, respiratory function, QoL, fatigue severity, and exercise capacity in sarcopenic patients after LT. Therefore, it may be considered a potentially useful adjunct to conventional rehabilitation in this population.

doi.org/10.1177/2161783x261505984 PubMed 43031457 Interventions