Hypnosis in Anesthesia: A Systematic Literature Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

Hypnosis has a long history of use in anesthesia, but it has not yet achieved the level of widespread clinical usage, despite favorable results in some individual studies. This systematic review aimed to quantify hypnosis in the different anesthetic domains. A comprehensive search of the literature was undertaken using Medline, Web of Science, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. In addition, the studies needed to be randomized controlled trials studying hypnosis and anesthesia. The search yielded 19 studies with a total of 3,699 patients over obstetrics, pediatrics, and dentistry. The results are encouraging, especially in the pediatric and dental areas where hypnosis was correlated with a statistically significant decline in both preoperative and intraoperative anxiety and a partial reduction in postoperative pain. In obstetrics, there was no beneficial impact from hypnosis on the pain. In conclusion, even though the number of high-quality studies is small, the studies indicate that hypnosis could serve as a helpful adjunct in defined anesthetic domains.