Preoperative hypnosis for pain management after arthroscopic repair of anterior cruciate ligament

Abstract

Background: The practice of hypnoanalgesia in orthopedics is rare and the literature is poor. Aim: The purpose of this pilot study was to verify the efficacy of hypnosis for the management of postoperative analgesia after arthroscopic repair of anterior cruciate ligament.
Methods: This was a prospective clinical trial over a period of 6 months (March - August 2015) including 25 patients scheduled for arthroscopic repair of anterior cruciate ligament under spinal anesthesia. All these patients had preoperative hypnosis in addition to the standard multimodal analgesia protocol (group H) and were compared to historical group (group S) who received only a standard multimodal analgesia protocol.
Results: Pain scores were significantly lower for the hypnosis group during the first 48 hours postoperatively (p = 0,006). The total dose of morphine at 48 hours was: 13,6 mg (95% CI [4,58; 22,62]) in the group H and 10,2 mg (95% CI [1,64 ; 18,76]) in group S with no statistically significant difference (p = 0,178)
Conclusion: Results of this pilot study in orthopedic surgery suggested that hypnosis reduced postoperative pain scores as demonstrated in other surgeries.