A Randomized Trial of Hypnosis for Relief of Pain and Anxiety in Adult Cancer Patients Undergoing Bone Marrow Procedures

Abstract

Pain and anxiety are closely associated with bone marrow aspirates and biopsies. To determine whether hypnosis administered concurrently with the procedure can ameliorate these morbidities, the authors randomly assigned 80 cancer patients undergoing bone marrow aspirates and biopsies to either hypnosis or standard of care. The hypnosis intervention reduced the anxiety associated with procedure, but the difference in pain scores between the two groups was not statistically significant. The authors conclude that brief hypnosis concurrently administered reduces patient anxiety during bone marrow aspirates and biopsies but may not adequately control pain. The authors explain this latter finding as indicating that the sensory component of a patient's pain experience may be of lesser importance than the affective component. The authors describe future studies to clarify their results and address the limitations of this study.

Hypnosis and music interventions (HMIs) inactivate HIF-1: A potential curative efficacy for cancers and hypertension

“…HMIs alleviate the anxiety degree of individuals including cancer patients Cancer patients, even survivors who have finished the clinical therapy, often experience side effects, pain, fatigue, and fear of recurrence [3,6,7,14], which causes a great deal of anxiety. Anxiety leads to negative health outcomes, longer recovery periods, resistance to treatment, and nightmares, while HMIs are well-established means of decreasing anxiety caused by pain and stress [7,30,34,35].…”

“…For example, HMIs significantly alleviate the frequent symptom ''hot flashes'' in breast cancer patients [12][13][14][15]. Presently, more and more patients are willing to use HMIs to aid their treatment, and a growing number of clinical trials are currently carried out to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of HMIs for cancers [3,6,7,12,14,[16][17][18].…”

“…Hypnosis and music interventions (HMIs) play positive roles in cancer treatment, such as complementing the modern therapeutic approaches, improving psychological and physical parameters, and alleviating pain and anxiety of cancer patients [3,[6][7][8][9][10][11]. For example, HMIs significantly alleviate the frequent symptom ''hot flashes'' in breast cancer patients [12][13][14][15].…”

Update on Research-Based Interventions for Anxiety in Patients With Cancer

“…Acupuncture: No significant effect on symptoms of fatigue, anxiety, or depression was found when acupuncture was per- Hypnosis or hypnotherapy: Hypnosis was examined for effects on anxiety, pain, or distress prior to surgery or bone marrow procedures (Schnur et al, 2008;Snow et al, 2012). One study (Schnur et al, 2008) conducted a hypnosis session 15 minutes before excisional breast biopsy; the other study (Snow et al, 2012) initiated the hypnosis session 15 minutes before the procedure and continued through completion of the procedure.…”

Incidental pain during health care. Ethical reflection during a clinical targeted audit

“…Le vécu antérieur du patient peut modifier la perception douloureuse soit parce qu'il a déjà subi le geste et le redoute soit au contraire du fait de la peur de l'inconnu. L'anxiété favorise une douleur anticipée qui est sensible aux approches non pharmacologiques comme la distraction ou l'hypnose [16], voire les technologies mobiles [17]. L'anxiété favorise aussi une exacerbation douloureuse liée à la focalisation douloureuse lors du geste lui-même [18].…”