Hypnotism in Surgery.

Hastings Standard, Volume VIII, Issue 3092, 3 August 1903, Page 3

Hypnotism in Surgery.

Somethingin'tbe'natnre of a sensation was created in British niodical circles last month I y an operation performed by Dr F Aldrich, wbicb, it will be remembered, was mentioned in our cablegrams ar, tha time. In describing the opera'!on, Dr Aldrich sanl that he had four; ! the subject, a woman, aged tbirtv :-ighfc. suffering froai a disease in tLa region of the ankle, which necessitated the reino\al of the lee. It was evident that in her case the adoiiniotratioa of chloroform I would be inadmissible, and he therefere deeidod to try hynotism; For a week previous to the operation he hypnotised bar every day, her sleep lasting about ha'.f an hour on each cecasion. On the last day he suggested to her that when she awoke she would feel no sensation whatever »n the knee, and on bringing her to, he found that she was not conscious of any feeling in that part, ilhe same afternoon the doctor hypnotised the woman without warning her that the operation was to take place. She was then lifted to the operating-table, and another surgeon amputated the limb. " During the operation," the doctor said afterwards, " I told the patient that her leg was being taken off below the knee. She laughed and said, ' All right; hold my hand.' fcihe gripped my band hard when the nerve' was severed. To the average person she might have appeared conscious the whole time." One of the most remarkable features of the operation was that it was followed by practically no symptoms of shook: The woman's pulse and temperature were normal, and sbe was able to eat less than an hour after the doctors had left. Alihouph this was the first"timo in the history of surgery in Great Britain that hypnotic suggestion had taken the place of ordinary an.estheties, operations under such circumstances are by no menus rare in other countries. In Prance there are established schools of hypnotism, both at Paris and at Nancy, and many minor surgical operations are performed under hypnotic influence. Hypnotism as a science has made little [progress in Great Britain, however, owing 'to the prejudice against it, arising chiefly from its fraudulent use. The dangers that attend its practice by 4 unscrupulous and incompetent people are undoubtedly great, but JDr Aldrich has shown that in efficient hands it may be made an inestimable boon to suffering hjoiaaity.