science

Hypnosurgery

Hypnosurgery is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Hypnosurgery rather than just read about it. In short: Hypnosurgery is surgery where the patient is sedated using hypnotherapy rather than traditional anaesthetics. It is claimed that hypnosis for anaesthesia has been used since the 1840s where it was pioneered by the surgeon James Braid.

Key takeaways

Hypnosurgery belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Hypnosurgery to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Hypnosurgery from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Hypnosurgery is surgery where the patient is sedated using hypnotherapy rather than traditional anaesthetics. It is claimed that hypnosis for anaesthesia has been used since the 1840s where it was pioneered by the surgeon James Braid. There are occasional media reports of surgery being conducted under hypnosis, but since these are not carried out under controlled conditions, nothing can be concluded from them. In 2013 in the University of Padova, Italy, Hypnosis was used as sole anaesthesia for a skin tumour removal in a patient with multiple chemical sensitivity who couldn't use chemical drugs. There is insufficient evidence to support the efficacy of hypnosis in managing pain in other contexts, such as childbirth or post-operative pain.

History

Mesmerism, also called animal magnetism, is the term given by Franz Mesmer for what he believed to be an invisible natural force in animals. He also believed that it could have physical effects such as healing. James Braid who is credited for pioneering hypnosurgery, first observed mesmerism while he was attending a public performance on magnetism by Charles Lafontaine. After attending two more shows he came to the conclusion that although there were observable physical effects, it was not caused by any magnetic interference. Braid then used self-experiment to prove his idea that mesmerism was achieved by vision and concentration of the subject. The citation here does not appear to support the sentence whatsoever, please consider this. It is claimed that hypnosis has been used in surgery for pain management, to control spasms in the alimentary canal, during rehabilitation, and as anaesthesia during an operation. The first alleged case of hypnosis as an anesthetic in surgery was when Jules Germain Cloquet (1790–1883), a French surgeon, operated on a woman's breast while she was purportedly under the influence of hypnosis. The operation was for the removal of a tumor. Over the course of his career, he claimed to have performed several successful surgeries using hypnosis as the only form of anesthesia. While stationed at the River Valley Road prisoner of war hospital in Singapore in 1945, with the supplies of chemical anesthetics severely restricted by the Japanese, Michael Woodruff and a medical/dental colleague from the Royal Netherlands Forces used hypnotism as the sole means of anesthesia for a wide range of dental and surgical procedures.

Preparing the patient for hypnosurgery

At the present time, preparing a patient for hypnosurgery would include having several 50–60 minutes' sessions of hypnotherapy done by a hypnotherapist. Each individual session focuses on controlling the pain and relaxing the mind. The number of hypnotherapy sessions varies according to the patient and their susceptibility to hypnosis. Generally, the patient would be ready for hypnosurgery after 6 weeks of training.

Post-operative hypnosis Hypnosis may also be helpful post-surgery in helping to facilitate faster healing in patients, with one study reporting faster tissue healing in patients who use hypnosis during surgical recovery. Several other studies have shown a psychological link with healing and recovery. In a study of patients up to seven weeks after undergoing a surgical procedure, researchers found greater healing and improvement in patients who had used hypnosis over those who only received supportive attention or standard "standard postoperative care". A recent Cochrane review on the efficacy of various psychological therapies (including hypnosis) on post-surgical outcomes concluded that "the strength of evidence is insufficient to reach firm conclusions on the role of psychological preparation for surgery" and the quality of the evidence was reportedly "very low."

See also Surgery Cardiac surgery Trauma surgery

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Hypnosurgery

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Hypnosurgery claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Hypnosurgery before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Hypnosurgery ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Hypnosurgery

In research: Hypnosurgery appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Hypnosurgery in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Hypnosurgery is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Hypnosis, Surgery, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Hypnosurgery outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Hypnosurgery in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Hypnosurgery means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Hypnosurgery out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hypnosurgery in simple terms?

Why does Hypnosurgery matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Hypnosurgery?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Hypnosurgery.