[Hypnosis in anesthesia]

After a review of the history of the subject, it is pointed out that Mason's deep trance hypnosis, were it employable in all cases and not just in 10-15% of them, would be the ideal anaesthetic. "Narco-hypnosis" is described as a method employable by the anaesthetist and advantageous in a certain number of operations. Present-day techniques of pharmacological anaesthesia have reached such a level of perfection, however, that hypnotic anaesthesia is really only indicated in certain well-defined situations: in obstetrics, in plastic surgery, in burn cases, in dentistry and in ophthalmology. Hypnosis is also useful in the postoperative course (as it re-establishes intestinal and vesical function and eases respiratory exercises), and in a number of painful conditions, especially long-standing ones.