Medical hypnosis for pain and psychological distress during burn wound debridement: A critical review

Introduction Burn injuries are often considered to be one of the most physically and psychologically damaging experiences an individual may endure. Because of this, more treatment options for managing pain and distress during burn wound debridement are needed. When used in combination with traditional treatment, medical hypnosis may offer health-care professionals an option for meeting the needs of patients with burn wounds. This article offers a critical review of the literature currently available on the efficacy of medical hypnosis for managing pain and distress during wound debridement and offers suggestions for an improved methodology for future trials. Materials and Methods MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Psyc ARTICLES, HealthSource: Nursing Edition, PubMed and Google Scholar were searched using the keywords ‘hypnosis’, ‘burn wounds’, ‘pain’ and ‘debridement’. Additional articles were selected from the bibliographies of representative literature. All experimental and quasi- experimental studies investigating the efficacy of hypnosis for managing pain and psychological distress during wound debridement were included in our results. Results Six studies involving a total of 217 participants met our inclusion criteria. The results of these studies suggest that hypnosis may be more effective than structured attention for reducing patients’ pain and anxiety levels during wound debridement. However, results are inconclusive due to oversights in study design, and additional studies that correct these design flaws are needed. Conclusion The existing evidence suggests that medical hypnosis may be effective in managing pain and distress for burn victims who have difficulty coping during wound debridement. Further investigation is warranted.