Long-term Effect of Hypnosis in Spinal Cord Injury Patients

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.