Usefulness of hypnosis for renal needle biopsy in children

Abstract

In our experience hypnosis was very helpful in obtaining complete cooperation of 21 children during the execution of the biopsy. The entire procedure of the biopsy was fully explained to all children and a psychological preparation was attempted with each child; nevertheless, even the 24 children in the control group who cooperated well showed a certain feeling of anxiety and/or fear at the beginning of the maneuver. After the biopsy was performed the children laughed at their fear, but none consented to repeat the biopsy if necessary. The biopsy was repeated, 4 days later, in two children of the hypnosis group, because there were no glomeruli in the first specimen of renal tissue. In these two children, as well as in all hypnotized children, nonadverse, reactions to the biopsy procedure were present because they had been conditioned to consider the biopsy almost a game between themselves and the physician. The lack of cooperation we found in five of the control children was not due to age, because two of them were 8 and 12 years old.