The Role of Hypnotherapy in Postoperative Cardiac Surgical Patients, A Scoping Review of Current Literature

Abstract

Hypnotherapy has been proposed as an emerging tool that can be implemented in management of different aspects of postoperative cardiac surgical care. This technique involves hypnotic induction to redirect focus and attention away from postsurgical pain. Emerging literature has shown that hypnosis significantly improves emotional distress immediately preceding surgical procedures and these effects have been demonstrated to extend into the postoperative period. The purpose of this scoping review is to summarize current literature on the role of hypnotherapy in the management of perioperative pain, anxiety, and depression in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. A database search was conducted using PubMed, Embase, and Google Scholar. We included all comparative studies (randomized and nonrandomized) that examined the effect of hypnotherapy on pain, anxiety, and depression in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Included articles were restricted to adult patients and English language only. Literature search yielded a total of 64 articles, of which, 14 duplicates were removed. After title and abstract screening, only 18 articles were included for full-text review. Six studies (with a total number of 420 patients) were included in the final analysis. Of these, 5 were randomized control trials and 1 was a cohort study. Our findings suggest that there may be a potential role for the use of hypnotherapy in the management of pain, anxiety, and depressive symptoms in the perioperative period of cardiac surgery. However, more robust evidence is required to justify its incorporation in the routine perioperative management pathways in this group of patients.