Imagery content during nonpharmacologic analgesia in the procedure suite: Where your patients would rather be

Rationale and Objectives. Imagery as a hypnotic technique can produce analg esia and anxiolysis, but effective use may be restricted to select, highly hypnotizable individuals. This study assessed (a) whether patients not sele cted for hypnotizability can produce imagery during interventional radiolog ic procedures and (b) the type of imagery produced. A secondary goal of the study was to familiarize health care providers with a simple, time-efficie nt technique for imagery. Materials and Methods. Fifty-six nonselected patients referred for interven tional procedures were guided to a state of self-hypnotic relaxation by a h ealth care provider according to a standardized protocol and script. Patien t hypnotizability was assessed according to the Hypnotic Induction Profile test. Results. Patients as a group had average distribution of hypnotizabilty, Th e induction script was started in all patients and completed in 53. All pat ients developed an imagery scenario. Chosen imagery was highly individual, but common trends were nature and travel, family and home, and personal ski lls. Being with loved ones was an important element of imagery for 14 patie nts. Thirty-two patients chose passive contemplation, and 24 were action or iented. Conclusion. Average patients who present for interventional radiologic proc edures and are not preselected for hypnotizabilty can engage in imagery. To pics chosen are highly individual, thus making prerecorded tapes or provide r-directed imagery unlikely to be equally successful.