Hypnosis in the Early Treatment of Burns: A Pilot Study

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Abstract
A review of the literature indicates that hypnosis, which has long been successfully used for pain control in burn patients, might also be able to alter the body's physiological response to burn injury. The present study is designed to determine if a single, early, hypnotic induction can alter the physiological response of the patients to their thermal injury. The hypnotic induction used visual imagery with suggestions of coolness and comfort according to a standard protocol. All patients were seen within 12 hours post burn. A total of 17 patients were enrolled in the study, 11 of whom accumulated sufficient data to be included in the analyses. Matched controls were selected on the basis of age and percent body surface area burn. Six of the 11 experimental subjects included in the analyses were judged by clinical observations to be at least mildly hypnotized whereas the remaining five did not. There were no significant differences between length of stay, fluid input or urine output between the total experimental group and their matched controls. However, Day 2 urine output (24–48 hours post burn) was significantly higher for the 6 hypnotized subjects than for their matched controls. It is hypothesized. since urine output is related to edema and fluid retention, that hypnosis was able to exert a physiological effect on the response of these five patients to their burn injury. Further works needs to be done on the potential for hypnosis in burn care.

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