The use of hypnosedation was found to be a useful alternative to general anesthesia in procedures involving cancer patients, according to French researchers.
As an alternative to general anesthesia, hypnosedation is the combination of hypnosis, conscious sedation and local anesthesia.
“By minimizing effects of anesthesia, this technique is particularly valuable for vulnerable patients. Hypnosis benefits the patient as well as the caregivers,” said Aurore Marcou, MD, the lead researcher of this study and an anesthesiologist at the Institut Curie, in Paris.
Dr. Marcou and her researchers found that in 150 cancer patients between 2011 and 2017, the use of hypnosedation resulted in comfortable surgical conditions 99% of the time. In two cases, patient discomfort occurred that continued despite increased locoregional anesthesia. Both cases were resolved by instituting general anesthesia.
All operations excluded premedication and hypnotic drugs in favor of the opioid remifentanil. While locoregional anesthesia was administered, depending on the location of the surgery, patients remained conscious throughout the duration of the procedure. Dr. Marcou reported the ability to talk and calm patients during surgery.
The study was presented at this year’s Euroanaesthesia congress in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Of the procedures performed, 90% were classified as breast surgeries, including total mastectomies, and the remainder included colonoscopies and gynecologic and superficial plastic surgeries.
Procedure time ranged between 30 and 130 minutes, with a mean of 60 minutes. Patients were between the ages of 18 and 100 years, with a mean age of 60.5 years. In 2% of these surgeries, the patients had severe cardiac, respiratory or renal failure, such that the use of general anesthesia would present a high risk to the patient.
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