Assessment of a short hypnosis in a paediatric operating room in reducing postoperative pain and anxiety: A randomised study.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To assess the impact of a short hypnotic session on postoperative anxiety and pain in major orthopaedic surgery.

BACKGROUND: Despite specific information given before a scheduled paediatric surgery, perioperative anxiety can become important.

DESIGN: Randomised Clinical Study.

METHODS: The study is an open single-centre randomised clinical study comparing a "control" group versus a "hypnosis" group receiving a short hypnosis pre-induction session as additional experimental analgesic procedure. The primary endpoint was the postoperative anxiety, blindly assessed using a visual analogue scale.

RESULTS: The study involved 120 children (age 10-18 years). The results showed no difference between control group versus hypnosis group. Twenty-four hours after surgery (Day+1), the patient's anxiety score was not different between control and hypnosis groups (median [Q1-Q3]: 1 [0; 3] vs. 0 [0; 3], respectively, p = .17). Each group experienced a significant decrease in anxiety level between the day before surgery (Day-1) and the day after surgery (Day+1) (median ([Q1-Q3]) difference of the anxiety score: 2 [4; 0] and 2 [4; 0], respectively, p < .0001 in each group). The postoperative pain scores were low and not different between groups (median [Q1-Q3]: 2 [0; 3] in control group vs. 3 [1; 3] in hypnosis group, p = .57).

CONCLUSION: This randomised study on a short hypnosis session performed in the operating room prior to a major surgery showed no difference in postoperative anxiety and pain levels. The decrease in anxiety and pain levels may be due to the addition of nurse pre-operative interviews and optimisation in communication in the operating room.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: As postoperative anxiety level was low in both control and hypnosis groups, nurse pre-operative interviews and nurse training in hypnosis may contribute to the optimisation of global management and decrease the postoperative anxiety level.