Hypnosis in Plastic Surgery

This paper reports on three years experience of the use of hypnosis at the Plastic Surgical Unit of Whiston Hospital in Lancashire, England. This therapy has primarily been used as a psychotherapeutic support for 13 patients undergoing pedicle and flap graft surgery; this resulted in a greatly improved morale and marked reduction in the total drug requirement. Ego-strengthening has been used in a few carefully selected patients with good effect, and hypnoanalgesia replacing chemical anesthesia has been used once to enable cosmetic surgery to be carried out on a post-coronary patient. The overall results have been encouraging, and it has been shown that hypnosis, even in bedridden patients, is a perfectly practical procedure in a communal ward.