Hypnosis for sedation in transesophageal echocardiography: a comparison with midazolam

BACKGROUND: Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), being a displeasing intervention, usually entails sedation. We aimed to compare the effects of hypnosis and midazolam for sedation in TEE. DESIGN AND SETTINGS: A prospective single-blinded study conducted on patients scheduled for TEE between April 2011 and July 2011 at a university in Istanbul, Turkey. METHODS: A total of 41 patients underwent sedation using midazolam and 45 patients underwent hypnosis. Patients were given the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) test for anxiety and continuous performance test (CPT) for alertness before and after the procedure. The difficulty of probing and the overall procedure rated by the cardiologist and satisfaction scores of the patients were also documented. RESULTS: Anxiety was found to be less and attention more in the hypnosis group, as revealed by STAI and CPT test scores (P<.05 and P<.001, respectively). CONCLUSION: Hypnosis proved to be associated with positive therapeutic outcomes for TEE with regard to alleviation of anxiety and maintenance of vigilance, thus providing more satisfaction compared to sedation with midazolam.