Virtual reality hypnosis in the management of pain: Self-reported and neurophysiological measures in healthy subjects.

BACKGROUND: Virtual reality hypnosis (VRH) has emerged as a new and promising option for pain management. Nonetheless, neural dynamics of pain modulation during VRH have not been investigated yet. The aim of this study was to measure the effects of VRH on pain, combining neurophysiological and self-reported measurements. METHODS: Eighteen healthy subjects underwent noxious electrical stimulations in both normal wakefulness and VRH conditions. Dissociation, absorption, time perception, anxiety, pain intensity and unpleasantness, heart rate variability and breathing were reported for each condition. EEG signals were analysed using event-related potentials (ERP) and time-frequency response (TFR) time-locked to stimuli. Neurophysiological features were correlated with self-reported data. RESULTS: VRH condition was associated with lower pain and higher dissociation. VRH significantly decreased amplitudes of N100 and P200 ERP components, reduced EEG power between 1 and 5 Hz from 100 to 560 ms, and increased EEG power from 5 to 11 Hz from 340 to 800 ms. These findings were observed at frontal, central and posterior electrodes. Heart rate variability was significantly higher and breathing frequency reduced with VRH. Correlations were found between the self-reported level of pain and ERP components. CONCLUSION: VRH modulates cerebral pain processes and body physiology, leading to reduced pain levels. These findings offer a first insight on the analgesic mechanisms of VRH and suggest that VRH is an effective approach to reduce experimental pain. SIGNIFICANCE: VRH decreases experimental pain perception, increases subject level of dissociation and modulates cerebral pain processing mechanisms. Pain can be managed with analgesic medication but also through complementary interventions. Among these, hypnosis and virtual reality (VR) are known to reduce pain for patients and healthy individuals. In recent years, an innovative technique combining hypnosis and VR has been proposed to help patients in managing pain. However, to our knowledge, no study has focused on the underlying mechanisms of this VR/hypnosis combination. We showed that VR combined with hypnosis decreases experimental pain, increases dissociation and influences EEG modulation.

Neurophysiology of hypnosis in chronic pain: A review of recent literature.

Chronic pain is a complex phenomenon which includes biological, psychological, and socio-professional factors that undermine patients' everyday life. Currently, only few patients significantly benefit from pharmacological treatments and many have to stop them because of negative side effects. Moreover, no medication or treatment addresses all aspects of chronic pain at once (i.e., sensations, emotions, behaviors, and cognitions), positioning chronic pain as an important public health issue and thus contributing to high health-care costs. Consequently, patients and health-care providers are increasingly turning to complementary non-pharmacological techniques such as hypnosis. Clinical research has demonstrated a decrease of pain perception, pain interference, depression and anxiety, and an increase in global quality of life when patients with chronic pain have benefited from hypnosis learning. Neuroimaging studies offer a possible explanation of these results by focusing on neural processes of pain modulation in chronic pain patients' brain. Studies conducted with chronic pain patients showed a modulation of pain matrix activity during hypnosis with a specific involvement of the anterior cingulate cortex (related to emotional and cognitive processing of pain). Therefore, hypnosis seems to act upon regions underlying emotion and cognition, with an influence on pain perception and emotional regulation. In this review, we propose to carry out a review of the recent literature on hypnosis in chronic pain management. A better understanding of the beneficial effects of hypnosis on chronic pain and its neurophysiology should enable more systematic use of this technique in the management of this complex health problem.

Virtual reality and hypnosis for anxiety and pain management in intensive care units: A prospective randomised trial among cardiac surgery patients.

BACKGROUND: Virtual reality and hypnosis are little studied in complex contexts, such as intensive care, where patients need significant physical and psychological assistance. OBJECTIVES: To compare and combine hypnosis and virtual reality benefits on anxiety and pain on patients before and after cardiac surgery. DESIGN: Prospective randomised controlled clinical trial. SETTING: The study was conducted in the University Hospital of Liege (Belgium) from October 2018 to January 2020. PATIENTS: One hundred patients (66 ±â€Š11.5 years; 24 women, 76 men) were included. Participants were adults undergoing cardiac surgery. Exclusion criteria: psychiatric diseases, claustrophobia, acrophobia, hearing loss, visual impairment, extreme fatigue, confusion surgery cancelled. INTERVENTIONS: Patients were randomly assigned to four arms (control; hypnosis; virtual reality; virtual reality hypnosis) and had 20 min of one of the techniques the day before and the day after surgery. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES: Anxiety, pain, fatigue, relaxation, physiological parameters, and opioid use were evaluated before and after each session. RESULTS: The main results did not show any significant differences between the groups. In all groups, anxiety decreased and pain increased from baseline to the postoperative day. Relaxation increased in all groups in the pre-operative (P < 0.0001) and postoperative period (P = 0.03). There were no significant differences for fatigue, physiological measures, or opioid use. CONCLUSION: As there were no significant differences between groups for the measured variables, we cannot affirm that one technique is better than another. Additional studies are required to compare and evaluate the cost-effectiveness of these techniques for critical care patients and caregivers. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03820700. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03820700. Retrospectively registered on 29 January 2019.

Complementary treatment comparison for chronic pain management: A randomized longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: In chronic pain, it seems that the effect of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is boosted when it is combined with hypnosis. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of self-hypnosis combined with self-care (i.e., a type of CBT) compared to music/self-care, self-care and psychoeducation/CBT and to evaluate their long-term effects. METHODS: An open label randomized clinical trial enrolled patients with chronic pain and was carried out at the University Hospital of Liège (Belgium). Patients were randomized into four groups: self-hypnosis/self-care, music/self-care, self-care, psychoeducation/CBT (7 monthly sessions of 2 hours). Two follow-up sessions were delivered at 6- and 12-month. Levels of pain, fatigue intensity, anxiety, depression, insomnia severity, disability, health locus of control, mental and physical quality of life and attitudes (control, disability, harm, emotion, medical cure, medication, solicitude) towards pain were assessed before and after the treatments, and at follow-up. RESULTS: 203 patients were randomized: 52 in self-hypnosis/self-care, 59 in music/self-care, 47 in self-care, and 45 in psychoeducation/CBT. No group effect was found. A significant time effect was showed. Directly after the treatment, all groups decreased in pain attitudes and physical quality of life. Perceived control increased. At 6-month, all patients kept their levels of physical quality of life and perceived control, and showed decrease in pain intensity, harm, emotion and medical cure. At 12-month, scores that had change previously remained ameliorated, a decrease in insomnia severity and an increase in internal locus of control were observed. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings are encouraging as they display long-term beneficial effects of complementary biopsychosocial-based treatments in chronic pain. It seems that patients continued to apply the learnt strategies as improvements were observed one year after the treatments had ended.

Hypnosis Associated with 3D Immersive Virtual Reality Technology in the Management of Pain: A Review of the Literature.

Hypnosis is well documented in the literature in the management of acute and chronic pain. Virtual reality (VR) is currently gaining credibility in the same fields as hypnosis for medical applications. Lately, the combination of hypnosis and VR was considered. The aim of this scoping review is to understand the current studied contexts and effects of virtual reality hypnosis (VRH) for the management of pain. We searched on PubMed, Taylor & Francis Online, and ProQuest databases with the following terms: "virtual reality," "3D," "hypnosis," and "pain". We included 8 studies that combined hypnosis and VR. All articles are in English. Two included healthy volunteers and six are clinical studies. Short-term results indicated significant decreases in pain intensity, pain unpleasantness, time spent thinking about pain, anxiety, and levels of opioids. However, results are not consistent for all patients all the days. VR alone seems to reduce pain independently of the hypnotizability level. One study claimed that VR and hypnosis could alter each other's effects and another argued that VR did not inhibit the hypnotic process and may even facilitate it by employing visual imagery. We cannot affirm that VR added value to hypnosis when they are combined. These trials and case series gave us indications about the possible applications of VRH in different contexts. Additional randomized clinical trials on VRH in the future will have to test this technique in clinical practice and help define guidelines for VRH utilization in pain management.

Can hypnosis and virtual reality reduce anxiety, pain and fatigue among patients who undergo cardiac surgery: a randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Different non-pharmacological techniques, including hypnosis and virtual reality (VR) are currently used as complementary tools in the treatment of anxiety, acute and chronic pain. A new technique called virtual reality hypnosis (VRH), which encompasses a combination of both tools, is regularly used although its benefits and underlying mechanisms remain unknown to date. With the goal to improve our understanding of VRH combination effects, it is necessary to conduct randomised and controlled research trials in order to understand their clinical interest and potential benefits. METHODS: Patients (n = 100) undergoing cardiac surgery at the Liège University Hospital will be randomly assigned to one of four conditions (control, hypnosis, VR or VRH). Each patient will receive two sessions of one of the techniques: one the day before the surgery and one the day after. Physiological assessments will be made on the monitor and patients will rate their levels of anxiety, fatigue, pain, absorption and dissociation. DISCUSSION: This study will help to expand knowledge on the application of virtual reality, hypnosis and VRH in the specific context of cardiac and intensive care procedures, and the influence of these non-pharmacological techniques on patient's anxiety, fatigue, pain and phenomenological experience. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03820700. Date registered on 29 January 2019. Study recruitment date: October 6, 2018. Study anticipated completion date: December 28, 2020.

Psychological interventions influence patients' attitudes and beliefs about their chronic pain.

BACKGROUND: Patients' changing attitudes and beliefs about pain are considered as improvements in the treatment of chronic pain. Multidisciplinary approaches to pain allow modifications of coping strategies of patients, from passive to active. METHODS: We investigate how two therapeutic treatments impact patients' attitudes and beliefs regarding pain, as measured with the Survey of Pain Attitudes (SOPA). We allocated 415 patients with chronic pain either to psychoeducation combined with physiotherapy, self-hypnosis combined with self-care learning, or to control groups. Pain intensity, global impression of change, and beliefs and attitudes regarding pain were assessed before and after treatment. RESULTS: Our main results showed a significant effect of psychoeducation/physiotherapy on control, harm, and medical cure SOPA subscales; and a significant effect of self-hypnosis/self-care on control, disability and medical cure subscales. Correlation results showed that pain perception was negatively associated with control, while positively associated with disability, and a belief that hurt signifies harm. Patients' impression of improvement was associated with greater control, lower disability, and lower belief that hurt signifies harm. CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed that self-hypnosis/self-care and psychoeducation/physiotherapy were associated with patients' evolution of coping strategies from passive to active, allowing them to reduce pain perception and improve their global impression of treatment effectiveness.