Perioperative medicine & outcomes
Preoperative Hypnosis versus Mindfulness for Reducing Postoperative Symptoms in Breast Surgery: A Randomized Clinical Trial
Authors' conclusion
A brief preoperative hypnosis session before breast cancer surgery appears to be more effective than mindfulness in reducing postoperative fatigue, emotional distress, and fentanyl dose.
Study context
- Population
- Women scheduled for breast cancer surgery, Oslo University Hospital, Norway
- Participants
- 203 women
- Comparison
- Preoperative hypnosis vs mindfulness
- Primary endpoint
- Postoperative pain, fatigue, nausea, discomfort and emotional distress (100-mm VAS)
- Follow-up
- Day of surgery after recovery from GA
Primary result
As reported in the abstract
Hypnosis vs MindfulnessMD (95% CI)
Postoperative fatigue, significantly lower with hypnosis; Cohen's d = 0.30
6.4(0.40–12.4)
Postoperative emotional distress, significantly lower with hypnosis; d = 0.24
5.7(0.24–11.2)
Further findings
| Outcome | MD (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| Postoperative fentanyl useSignificant reduction with hypnosis; d = 0.54 | −0.03 (−0.047 to −0.005) | |
| −0.06−0.04−0.0200.02Difference (linear scale) |
Emotional distress by preoperative anxiety (subgroup)
- Preoperative anxiety moderated the effect of hypnosis on emotional distress; more pronounced benefit with high preoperative anxiety
Safety
- No adverse events attributed to the interventions reported
Original publication
Preoperative Hypnosis versus Mindfulness for Reducing Postoperative Symptoms in Breast Surgery: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Anesthesiology. Published 7 November 2025. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →