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Gut-directed hypnotherapy remained effective for children
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The benefits of gut-directed hypnotherapy for pediatric patients with functional abdominal pain or irritable bowel syndrome are long lasting, according to recent research from a follow-up study.
The researchers previously had conducted a randomized, controlled trial of 52 participants demonstrating that gut-directed hypnotherapy (HT) for children (n=27) with functional abdominal pain (FAP) or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) was highly effective, and 85% were symptom-free 1 year after treatment. The HT patients were compared with 25 children who were administered standard medical treatment in combination with supportive therapy (SMT). At 1-year follow-up, 25% of the SMT group was symptom-free.
Children assessed their pain intensity and frequency of pain by completing a weeklong standardized abdominal pain diary with scoring criteria. Clinical remission was defined as >80% improvement in pain intensity and pain frequency scores compared with baseline.
In the follow-up study, after a mean duration of 4.8 years and a mean age of 17.8 years, researchers said 68% of the HT patients (n=18) compared with 20% of the SMT group (n=4) remained in clinical remission (P=.005). Pain intensity and pain frequency scores were 7.3 and 7.1, respectively, for the SMT group (P<.01), while the HT patients were significantly lower at 2.8 and 2.3, respectively. Three SMT children from the initial study did not participate in the follow-up.
“This follow-up study clearly shows that beneficial effects of gut-directed HT sustain over a period of 5 years in children with FAP or IBS,” researchers wrote. “Gut-directed HT can be considered as a highly valuable therapeutic option for children with long-lasting complaints of IBS or FAP.”
Researchers said a larger randomized, controlled trial sample should be conducted in the future to confirm their long-term results.
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