Watching a child undergo an uncomfortable medical procedure, such as a voiding cystourethrogram (an X-ray of the bladder and urinary tract that's performed during urination), can be stressful and frightening for parents. Children may not understand why the procedure is being performed, how long it will take, or how uncomfortable it will be - all factors that could add to their distress. But now researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, California, and the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology in Palo Alto, California, say that self-hypnosis could reduce stress in children undergoing painful medical procedures while reducing the time it takes to perform the procedure.
Forty-four 4- to 15-year-old children scheduled for a voiding cystourethrogram were randomly assigned to receive hypnosis or routine care during the voiding procedure. The day before the procedure, the children and their parents met with researchers and answered questions about the child's fear, pain, and crying during the last voiding procedure. After the interview with the researcher, the children in the hypnosis group participated in a 1-hour training session in imagery and self-hypnosis while the parents watched. Each child was taught to count and then envision a comfortable sense of floating - like being in a bath, a lake, or hot tub. Children were also asked to visualize another fun experience, like going to an amusement park, friend's house, or playground. In contrast, the children in the other group received routine recreational therapy. In this type of therapy, a therapist talked to the child about what to expect during the procedure and suggested relaxation and breathing techniques.
After the procedure was performed, the children noted how scared or afraid they were, whether they had cried, and how much discomfort they experienced. Parents answered similar questions and researchers videotaped the children so they could evaluate the children's facial movements for expressions of pain.
Overall, self-hypnosis was more beneficial than routine care for children undergoing voiding cystourethrogram. Here are the specific benefits that researchers found:
- Compared to parents of kids in the routine care group, parents of children in the hypnosis group said that the procedure was significantly less traumatic for their children than the previous procedure.
- Researchers observed that kids in the hypnosis group had significantly lower distress levels during the procedure, compared to kids who had routine care.
- The nurses, doctors, and other staff performing the procedure reported that it was much less difficult to perform the procedure on children in the hypnosis group.
- The procedure took an average 14 minutes less in children in the hypnosis group.
What This Means to You: Teaching children to relax themselves using self-hypnosis may be a powerful tool to reduce stress and anxiety during painful medical invasive procedures like voiding cystourethrogram. If your child is scheduled to undergo a painful medical exam or procedure and you're interested in exploring hypnotic relaxation techniques, talk to your child's doctor, nurse, or therapist.
Source: Lisa D. Butler, PhD; Barbara K. Symons, BA; Shelly L. Henderson, MA; Linda D. Shortliffe, MD; David Spiegel, MD; Pediatrics, January 2005
Reviewed by: Steven Dowshen, MD
Date reviewed: February 2005
