Self Hypnotic Relaxation As An Adjunct To Local Anesthesia During Large Core Breast Biopsy

Percutaneous large core image-guided breast biopsy is a well established tool in diagnosing breast cancer, but the associated anxiety and pain can tax the coping mechanism of even well functioning individuals. Unabated stress during an invasive procedure not only interferes with smooth progression of the ongoing procedure, but can also have deleterious effects when patients need additional procedures and dread recurrent medical traumatization. The long-term objective of this research is to provide patients with a simple coping strategy at the vulnerable time of large core biopsy in the hope that this behavioral intervention will carry over to recovery and future medical procedures. In the largest prospective randomized study of its kind, the researchers showed that a self-hypnotic intervention during percutaneous, image-guided vascular and renal interventions resulted in less pain and anxiety, greater hemodynamic stability, and fewer procedure interruptions. The positive effects of the short initial hypnotic intervention, which was structured in the procedure room, became more pronounced the longer the procedure lasted and carried over into the immediate post-procedure recovery. The investigators therefore challenge the current paradigms that long-lasting effects require intensive presurgical preparation.