Pain-free surgery - by hypnosis
by Lucie Morris, 05 December 2000, Daily Mail

Hypnosis can lower patients' pain and anxiety during minor surgery, a study has revealed. People who are told how to manage pain and distress by using relaxation and hypnotic techniques need fewer painkillers. They also spend less time in the operating theatre because they cause fewer distractions for surgical teams. Experts believe that as keyhole procedures become more common self-hypnosis could take on a greater role, meaning that the patient is less likely to be given a general anaesthetic.
Most doctors rely on local anaesthetics and painkillers to manage pain and anxiety, but these can have potentially serious side effects.

Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre in Boston studied 241 patients, spilt into three groups. One had standard care during kidney biopsies and minor vascular surgery. Another had additional one-to-one reassurance by nurses. The third group were trained in self-hypnosis and relaxation techniques. Results published in the Lancet medical journal show pain increased with procedure time in the standard group, to a lesser degree with the attention group and did not increase at all in the hypnosis group.

Patients who underwent hypnosis also needed fewer drugs to control their pain and were less likely to suffer sudden variations in blood pressure, suggesting the hypnosis was having a beneficial effect.