Use of Hypnosis to Facilitate Dental Extraction and Hemostasis in a Classic Hemophiliac with a High Antibody Titer to Factor VIII

A 21-year-old class A, very severely affected hemophiliac patient required the extraction of an upper molar. Because of the known tendency of all hemophiliacs to bleed excessively after dental extraction, and because this patient also had a potent antibody titer to factor VIII, the usual replacement techniques, including antihemophilic globulin (AHG) were not expected to be sufficient to prevent hemorrhage. Thus, hypnosis was used as an adjunct to both anesthesia and hemostasis. The procedure was extremely successful. No bleeding occurred at any time and minimal oozing was permanently stopped on the fourth postoperative day without the use of the transfusions that had been previously required for this patient.