Tape-recorded hypnosis instructions as adjuvant in the care of patients scheduled for third molar surgery

As medical costs continue to escalate, there is willingness to consider the role played by nontraditional factors in health. We investigated the usefu lness of tape-recorded hypnosis instruction on perioperative outcome in sur gical patients in a prospective, randomized, and partially blinded study. S ixty patients scheduled for third molar surgery were studied. Patients were allocated to either an experimental group (E) or a control group (C). Grou p E received an audio tape to listen to daily for the immediate preoperativ e week, which guided the patients through a hypnotic induction and included suggestions on enhancement of perioperative well-being Group C did not rec eive any tapes. The same surgeon administered local anesthesia and a standa rd regimen of sedation and performed the operation for all patients. The fo llowing variables were assessed 1 wk before surgery immediately before and after surgery, and for 3 days after surgery by the indicated measurements: State anxiety by a Spielberger scale; nausea and pain by visual analog scal es; number of tablets of the analgesics that were used; number of episodes of vomiting; and complications. In addition, the surgeon's assessment of ea se of surgery was recorded. Two variables showed differences between the gr oups. First, Group C exhibited a mean increase of 11.7 points on the Spielb erger scale from the screening to the presurgery period, while Group E show ed only a mean increase of 5.5 points during the same period, P = 0.01. Sec ond, the mean number of vomiting episodes was more in Group E, 1.3, than in Group C, 0.3, P = 0.02. In conclusion, anxiety was reduced before surgery by means of an audio tape containing hypnotic instructions; however, for no apparent reason, there was also an increase in the incidence of vomiting. Implications: We administered hypnosis instructions to patients before thir d molar surgery. Anxiety was reduced, but there was an increase in the inci dence of vomiting. Although an easy and cost-effective method, the value of this approach remains to be established.