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SUFU 2021: Clinical Hypnosis Reduces Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms in Patients With Chronic Pain

(UroToday.com) Clinical hypnosis is an intervention used to support the management of chronic pain and illness and there is some data to suggest that it can reduce urinary frequency. This is an interesting study as it involved 8-session hypnosis treatment in patients (n=74) with chronic pain from diffuse musculoskeletal pain to rheumatologic, urologic, and neuropathic pain.

Immediately after, and at three and six months post-treatment, pain intensity was measured using the Brief Pain Inventory-SF 6, and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) were measured using the AUA SI. At baseline, 27% (n=20) presented with mild, 58% (n=43) with moderate, and 15% (n=11) with severe LUTS symptoms. The authors hypothesized that individuals with pain and co-morbid LUTS would have reduced urinary symptoms after hypnosis treatment. Participants’ urinary symptoms improved substantially from pre- to post-treatment (p<0.001), with further improvement at three months post-treatment (p<0.001) which was maintained at six months. These results were clinically significant and persisted over a six-month period. Treatment gains were most substantial for individuals who reported severe baseline LUTS.

Presented by: Lindsey McKernan, PhD,1 Michael Finn,1 Leslie Crofford, MD,1 Mark Jensen, PhD,2 W. Stuart Reynolds, MD,1

  1. Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
  2. University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle

Written by: Diane K. Newman, DNP, CRNP, FAAN, BCB-PMD, Nurse Practioner and Co-Director, Penn Center for Continence and Pelvic Health Adjunct Professor of Urology in Surgery during the 2021 Society of Urodynamics, Female Pelvic Medicine & Urogenital Reconstruction (SUFU) Winter Meeting