Long-term Effect of Hypnosis in Spinal Cord Injury Patients

Lone Knudsen, MSc Psych, PhD7 enrolled

Overview

Coping-oriented hypnotic suggestions aimed at reducing pain catastrophizing was shown to reduce pain in people with chronic tension-type headache and experimental pain in healthy volunteers during hypnosis (Kjøgx et al., 2016). However, the duration of the effect on pain post-hypnosis is unknown. The aim is to investigate the durational effect of a single session of coping-oriented hypnotic suggestions on chronic pain in patients with spinal cord injury. If effective for a longer period post-hypnosis, this form of hypnosis may provide an alternative to medicine or may be used in conjunction with lower medicine dosages. Methods: 75 patients with spinal cord injury and pain is randomized into one of three conditions; coping-oriented hypnosis plus current treatment, neutral hypnosis plus current treatment or current treatment only. Pain intensity, coping strategies, pain catastrophizing, anxiety and depression is assessed before intervention and over a period of 14 days post-intervention.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE

Enrollment

Conditions

Spinal Cord Injuries

Interventions

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Spinal cord injury (tetraplegia or paraplegia) with some preservation of hand functioning * Baseline pain level of ≥ 3 on a Numeric Rating Scale (NRS; 0-10 where 10 is extremely severe pain) * Pain duration of at least 8 weeks. Exclusion Criteria: * Severe mental or psychiatric illness * Substance abuse (drugs, alcohol or medicine) * Lack of ability to cooperate during the experiment * Severe high cervical lesions * Severe autonomic dysautonomia