Practical hypnotic suggestion in ophthalmic surgery.

To determine the effectiveness of hypnotic suggestion in eliminating unnecessary movement by the patient during surgery and to reduce postoperative discomfort, we assigned 59 patients undergoing radial keratotomy for the first time (32 men and 27 women ranging in age from 20 to 56 years; mean age, 30 years) to one of two groups. The first group (No. = 34) listened to a four-minute script designed to relax them just before undergoing surgery; the control group (No. = 25) received the same medications but did not hear the script. The two groups did not differ significantly in their behavior during surgery, the amount of pain experienced during surgery and postoperatively, or their awareness of the procedure. They did differ significantly in their descriptions of how they felt the day after surgery; 13 of 34 patients in the hypnosis group said they felt wonderful; only one of 24 patients in the control group expressed this opinion.

RCT Entities:   Population Interventions Outcomes