Hypnosurgery

Hypnosurgery is the term given to an operation where the patient is sedated using hypnotherapy rather than traditional anaesthetics. It is still in its experimental stages, and not widely used. Only a few successful cases have been reported. Chemical anesthesia is still the standard of care, mainly because of its high reliability and the fact that it's more complete, i.e. while hypnosurgery patients will almost always feel some pain, patients under general anesthesia are completely unaware of the operation.

During hypnosurgery, a hypnotist helps the patient control their subconscious reflexes so that they do not feel pain in the traditional sense.Fact|date=February 2007 Patients are aware of sensation as the operation progresses and often describe a tingling or tickling sensation when pain would normally be expected.Fact|date=February 2007

The main benefit of hypnosurgery is that there are fewer side effects, and generally a patient can leave hospital sooner than if normal anaesthetics are used.Fact|date=February 2007 A reduction in blood loss and post-operative nausea have also been recorded.Fact|date=February 2007 It should be noted, however, that further studies are being performed and that hypnosurgery is not suitable for all patients.Fact|date=February 2007

In April 2006, the British television channel More4 broadcast a live hernia hypnosurgery operation.

External links

* [http://www.channel4.com/more4/event/H/hypnosurgery/hypnosurgerylive.html More4: Hypnosurgery live] - the entire episode is available for download online (must register to watch).
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iftWAM1QljU Cesarean section video]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/sussex/7355569.stm BBC news story]
* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6246151609103284389 Hypnosurgery Live episode viewable at Google Video]