NOVEMBER 2000, VOLUME 28, NUMBER 2, Abstract 4
Hypnotic Analgesia of Spinal Cord Injury Pain
Mark P. Jensen, University of Washington
Joseph Barber, University of Washington
Chronic pain is a common but under-treated problem in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). The current study sought to examine the efficacy of hypnotic analgesia for SCI-related pain. Four patients with SCI were given 4 to 19 hypnotic treatments with recommendations for daily practice. They provided ratings of average pain intensity and sleep disturbance pre-treatment, post-treatment, and at two-month and one-year follow-up. They also kept daily records of pain intensity and sleep disturbance during baseline, during treatment, and for 5-44 days after treatment. Each patient reported a pre- to post-treatment decrease in pain intensity and sleep disturbance. Three of the patients maintained or improved upon gains made during treatment during the two months following treatment, while one patient’s pain intensity and sleep disturbance returned to pre-treatment levels by the two-month follow-up assessment. At one-year follow-up, two of the patients reported having maintained their treatment gains. The third patient who had initially benefited noted an increase of his pain and sleep interference from the two-month to the one-year follow-up assessment. However, even for this patient, at one-year follow-up pain intensity and sleep disturbance ratings were still below pre-treatment levels. The findings support the potential of hypnotic analgesia for assisting some patients with SCI-related pain, and suggest the possibility that patient practice with self-hypnosis may enhance, at least to some extent, the effects of hypnotic analgesia.