The use of hypnotic relaxation techniques before some medical procedures reduced patients' anxiety and
pain during the procedures, decreased procedure time and cost, and, in nearly one half of the cases, eliminated the
need for conscious sedation altogether. These were the finding of a study of 161 patients undergoing angiography,
angioplasty or kidney drainage.
The relaxation technique involved a specially trained nurse or team member reading a script telling the patient to close and
relax their eyes, take deep breaths, feel a sensation of floating and to a safe and comfortable place. The patients were
given a bell to ring at any point during the procedure if they felt the need for more anesthesia.
All of the patients were offered conscious sedation (a mixture of anti-pain and anti-anxiety medication). Fourteen of the 79
patients (18%) who did not undergo relaxation techniques requested no sedation, compared with 38 of the 82 patients (46%)
who underwent relaxation techniques. Replacing or supplementing anesthesia with the relaxation techniques reduced the average
procedure time by 17 minutes (20% of total procedure time) and reduced the average procedure cost by $130.00 per patient.
This reduction in cost was primarily the result of fewer interruptions during the procedures, and avoiding over or under sedation
that usually results in the patient being admitted to the hospital overnight instead of being released within a few hours of the
procedure.
Elvira V. Lang, M.D.
Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts