Effects of hypnosis before general anesthesia on postop outcomes

Editor's Note

In this study, no benefit of hypnosis before general anesthesia was found on postoperative pain, but it had other benefits, such as less fatigue and anxiety (especially in patients who thought they received hypnosis, but did not) and higher patient satisfaction scores.

A total of 150 women having breast surgery were randomized to a control group (73) or a hypnosis group (77). The median duration of the hypnosis session was 6 minutes. After surgery, 25% of control patients thought they had received hypnosis, and 21.7% of patients in the hypnosis group thought they had not received hypnosis.

Further studies are needed to objectivize and explain the benefits of hypnosis in this population, the authors note.