Is hypnosis a valid alternative to spontaneous breathing general anesthesia for claustrophobic patients undergoing MR exams? A preliminary retrospective study

Abstract Background The purpose of our retrospective study was to assess the termination rate and image quality MR exams performed in claustrophobic patients under medical hypnosis, as compared undergoing spontaneous breathing general anesthesia. Methods Our approved by ethics committee. “hypnosis group” included consecutive that had previously interrupted an exam because claustrophobia. “control pharmacologic sedation. Two experienced radiologists assessed, randomly, independently blinded two groups using a symmetrical Likert scale: 0 = non-diagnostic images; 1 bad quality; 2 fair 3 good 4 very quality. Descriptive statistics performed. Results Eighty were included, equally distributed between groups. Every patient able complete exam. Ratings represented majority ratings. Both readers rated with score or 66.25% (53/80) exams. Only 5% (4/80) below 2. showed No significant difference found ( p 0.06) agreement according k 0.105. Conclusions Medical hypnosis is valid alternative anesthesia unable undergo due claustrophobia, allowing images.