CClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT06499909HypnopalUpdated May 4, 2026

Hypnosis for Colectomies as Postoperative Pain Management

An interventional study of Hypnosis in to Evaluate the Effects of Clinical Hypnosis on Post-operative Pain, Following Colectomy Operations, sponsored by Somerset NHS Foundation Trust. Completed at 1 site in United Kingdom. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-05-04.

Sponsored by Somerset NHS Foundation Trust · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Registered 1 year after the study started (first participant enrolled Jun 2023, registered Jun 2024).
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
42
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The present study intends to assess the feasibility, value and direction of conducting a future, full scale randomised controlled trial, to evaluate the effects of clinical hypnosis on post-operative pain, following colectomy operations.

Pain management in the postoperative setting presents a challenge as the development and severity of pain after surgery is dependent on different patient and procedural factors. Furthermore, pain after surgery is a major concern for patients, especially when it is undermanaged. When postoperative pain control is suboptimal it delays mobilisation, reduces oral food and fluid intake after surgery, and increases the risk of developing chronic pain and other complications. These factors have a negative impact on the patient recovery process, thus increasing the length of hospital stay and healthcare costs. Hypnosis is well recognised as having an effect in pain perception, it is a brief, easy to administer intervention making it a promising non-pharmacological intervention with the potential to help postoperative pain management in patients undergoing colectomies as well as reducing anxiety and emotional stress related to surgery, while also having a positive indirect effect on recovery times, which could lead to considerable cost-savings at organisational level.

The intervention will be delivered at Somerset NHS Foundation Trust by a designated Principal Investigator. Hypnosis sessions will be given face to face in a clinical consulting room and on the ward where the participants will be admitted after surgery. The study aims to enrol 40 participants, 20 for each arm, over 12 months, from Musgrove Park Hospital who will undergo elective colectomy surgery. Eligible participants would be adults 18 years or over, undergoing elective colectomy surgery. Participants must be able to provide a written informed consent and able to understand and communicate in English.

02

Conditions studied

  • to Evaluate the Effects of Clinical Hypnosis on Post-operative Pain, Following Colectomy Operations
03

In context

Lead sponsor

Somerset NHS Foundation Trust is the lead sponsor of 4 studies on the registry; 1 is open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

Patients will be included in the study if they meet ALL of the following inclusion criteria

  • Aged 18 years or over;
  • Undergoing elective colectomy surgery (open and laparoscopic colectomies will be included).
  • Patients that can provide written informed consent.
  • Are able to understand and communicate in English.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

A patient meeting ANY of the following exclusion criteria at baseline will be excluded from participation:

  • Emergency colectomies will be excluded due to the urgency of the intervention.
  • Non English speakers.
  • Patients with the following diagnosed mental health illness: personality disorders, psychosis or schizophrenia as hypnosis could aggravate these conditions.
  • Patients that are already involved in other research studies and that could influence the results of the study.
  • Any patient that is clinically unwell post-surgery with a National Early Warning Score (NEWS) of 5 or higher. NEWSscore is a tool developed for NHS England which improves the detection and response to clinical deterioration in adult patients and is a key element of patient safety and improving patient outcomes.
  • Patients with deafness or difficulty hearing as this would be essential for this therapy to be effective.
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
42 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Hypnosis

    Patient receives hypnosis treatment prior to surgery

    Other: Hypnosis

  • No intervention
    Normal care pathway

    Patient will receive standard care

Interventions

  • OtherHypnosis

    The patient will receive a course of hypnosis

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. The effectiveness of hypnotic analgesia on post-operative pain after colectomies.

    The investigator is assessing the effectiveness of hypnosis on pain by using numeric pain scales to assess pain scores before and after hypnosis. This will then help the investigator evaluate pain scores between groups and compare the before and after hypnosis scores.

    Time frame: 365 days

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Somerset NHS Foundation Trust
    Taunton, Somerset TA4 3RF, United Kingdom
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on May 4, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT06499909
Lead sponsor
Somerset NHS Foundation Trust
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Jul 15, 2024
Start date
Jun 6, 2023
Primary completion
Feb 29, 2024
Completion
Apr 30, 2024
Last update
May 4, 2026

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Jul 2024. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

Follow this study

Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.

Sign in to follow

Discussion

Questions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.

Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.

Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.

Start the discussion