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. 2022 Mar;11(3):588-598.
doi: 10.21037/gs-22-114.

Effect of hypnosis before general anesthesia on postoperative outcomes in patients undergoing minor surgery for breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Jing Zeng #  1 , Liang Wang #  2 , Qinfeng Cai  3 , Jiaying Wu  3 , Caishan Zhou  3
Affiliations

Effect of hypnosis before general anesthesia on postoperative outcomes in patients undergoing minor surgery for breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Jing Zeng et al. Gland Surg. 2022 Mar.

Abstract

Background: Preoperative anxiety is a common phenomenon in breast cancer, causing pain and tension, which is not conducive to the effective surgical treatment and postoperative recovery. It is believed that hypnosis can change the patient's perception of pain, thereby improving the patient's ability to control pain. However, the results of studies for this topic were controversy. In order to explore the effect of hypnosis in breast cancer surgery we included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and conducted a meta analysis.

Methods: PubMed, Web of Science, Wiley online library, Elsevier, and Clinicaltrials.gov databases were searched by computer with the keywords "hypnosis/hypnotherapy" and "breast cancer" and "oncologic surgery/surgery/biopsy". After screening, the meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.4 software, and the evidence was rated using GRADE profiler 3.6 software.

Results: A total of 1,242 patients were included in 8 studies, including 630 patients who received preoperative hypnosis and 612 patients who did not receive hypnosis. Meta-analysis showed that hypnosis before general anesthesia reduced the degree of preoperative anxiety (MD =-2.79, 95% CI: -3.93, -1.65, P<0.00001) and postoperative pain (MD =-1.25, 95% CI: -1.64, -0.86, P<0.00001) in patients undergoing breast cancer surgery, but had no effect on the operation time (MD =-6.30, 95% CI: -15.38, 2.78, P=0.17) and the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (OR =0.68, 95% CI: 0.22, 2.07, P=0.49).

Discussion: The application of hypnosis before general anesthesia for breast cancer surgery can reduce the degree of anxiety of patients, also reducing postoperative pain.

Keywords: Breast cancer; general anesthesia; hypnosis; meta-analysis.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://gs.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/gs-22-114/coif). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The study selection flow chart. WOS, Web of Science; CNKI, China national knowledge infrastructure; RCT, randomized controlled trials.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Summary chart of the risk of bias assessment of the included studies.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Risk of bias assessment chart of the included studies.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Effect of hypnosis before general anesthesia on postoperative pain after breast cancer surgery. SD, standard deviation; IV, inverse variance; CI, confidence interval.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Effect of hypnosis before general anesthesia on postoperative anxiety after breast cancer surgery. SD, standard deviation; IV, inverse variance; CI, confidence interval.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Effect of hypnosis before general anesthesia on the operation time of breast cancer surgery. SD, standard deviation; IV, inverse variance; CI, confidence interval.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Effect of hypnosis before general anesthesia on the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting after breast cancer surgery. SD, standard deviation; M-H, Mantel Haenszel; CI, confidence interval.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Funnel plot for the analysis of hypnosis before general anesthesia for postoperative pain after breast cancer surgery. MD, mean difference, SE, standard error.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Egger’ test result for the analysis of hypnosis before general anesthesia for postoperative pain after breast cancer surgery. SND, standard normal deviate; CI, confidence interval.
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