Hypnosis as an Adjunct to Local Anesthesia

Yesterday, I used hypnosis as an adjunct to local anesthesia during a "T.U.N.A." (transurethral needle ablation) procedure for BPH (benign prostatic hypertrophy) of the prostate gland.

Pre-operatively, the patient is given a low dose of Demerol (50 mg.). The area to be operated on is instilled with Lidocaine gel and 2% liquid Lidocaine. This is normally enough, however, this particular patient did not respond as expected to the Lidocaine. An extra 50 mg. of Demerol was given I.V. during the beginning of the procedure and still it was not sufficient for this particular patient. Sometimes, it becomes very obvious how different one individual is from another physically.

Since this is an office procedure, it was decided upon to try hypnosis at this point instead of more Demerol. It worked wonderfully!!! Eye catalepsy was easily and quickly obtained. The procedure went easily as well after the hypnosis. Minimal bleeding and the patient was relaxed during the rest of the procedure and left quite content.