Hypnotic analgesia intervention during first-trimester pregnancy termination: an open randomized trial.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine whether hypnotic analgesia can reduce the need for intravenous sedation analgesia without increasing pain and anxiety levels during abortion. A cohort of 350 women who were scheduled for surgical abortion (< 14 weeks' gestation) were assigned randomly to a standard care group or a group that received a standardized hypnotic analgesia intervention 20 minutes before and throughout the surgical procedure. Primary outcome was the difference between the 2 groups: (1) the proportion who received sedation (yes/no) during the surgical procedure and (2) self-assessments of pain and anxiety during suction evacuation of uterus content. Women who underwent hypnosis required less intravenous sedation analgesia (108/172 women; 63%) than the control group (149/175 women; 85%; P < .0001) and self-reported no difference in pain, but not in anxiety, levels during suction evacuation. Hypnotic interventions can be effective as an adjunct to pharmacologic management of acute pain during abortion.