Hypnosis During Mechanical Ventilation Weaning

Hypnosis is defined as an altered state of consciousness characterized by an increased susceptibility to suggestion. It is a technique commonly used in the medical field, primarily for the management of pain and anxiety.

The literature demonstrates that better pain management is correlated with a shorter length of stay in the ICU and a shorter duration of mechanical ventilation.

In patients hospitalized in the ICU requiring invasive mechanical ventilation, the emotional component plays a significant role in dyspnea, which can become an obstacle to weaning from ventilation. The analgesic and anxiolytic treatments used carry numerous side effects and contraindications, limiting their use in ICU patients. Furthermore, pulmonary edema is a common cause of failure to wean from invasive mechanical ventilation. By reducing the occurrence of hypertension and tachycardia, hypnosis could be used as a therapeutic strategy to limit its incidence. Thus, hypnosis could be a valuable therapeutic tool for improving tolerance and the success of ventilator weaning.

Although hypnosis is already commonly used in intensive care units, its use is still limited by a lack of evidence for more specific indications. It is in this context that this study was conducted, to assess the feasibility of conducting a hypnosis session during weaning from invasive mechanical ventilation in the intensive care unit.