Can hypnosis be used in Intensive Care Units?

Abstract

In this review, we propose to discuss how hypnosis processes can increase the comfort of patients hospitalized in the intensive care
units. Hypnosis is a tool increasingly used by medical teams as a complementary technique to the usual biomedical approaches.
Many studies have demonstrated its effects in different contexts (surgery, chronic pain, oncology, etc.). The aim of this article focuses
on the use of hypnosis in intensive care units.
Clinical studies highlight the interest of this technique to improve the well-being of the patients, by decreasing pain and anxiety.
Neuroimaging allows us to understand the processes underlying these subjective changes reported by patients during hypnosis.
Modified cerebral activation can be seen in both the activation of neural networks and the functional connectivity of networks related
to internal and external consciousness, as well as sensory perceptions (such as pain perception). Therefore, hypnotic techniques may
be useful in intensive care units to improve the weaning conditions of intubated and ventilated patients.
Nowadays, some studies investigate the possibility of effective use of hypnosis in intensive care units. However, controlled and randomized studies are needed to draw conclusions about the specific benefits that may result.