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Hypnosis-induced mental training improves performance on the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS) simulator

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Abstract

Background

Mental training (MT) is used extensively by musicians and athletes to improve their performance. Recently, it has been suggested as a training method for surgical trainees. We assessed the influence of MT, induced by hypnosis, on the performance of simulated tasks on a laparoscopic simulator, as compared to a non-specific relaxing intervention.

Methods

11 surgeons completed a proficiency-based training program on the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS) simulator, until they reached performance plateau of the peg transfer task. Thereafter, they received a single music session, as a relaxing intervention, followed by repeating of the peg transfer task. Then they went through a hypnosis session guided by an experienced psychologist, with suggestions of smooth flow of pegs from one position on the board to another, and re-performed the task.

Results

Plateau performance was 51.1 ± 6.9 s. After the music session performance improved by 6.3 % to 47.9 ± 5.4 s (p = 0.86). After the MT session performance further improved by 15.3 % to 40.1 ± 5.8 s (p = 0.009), which was a 21.6 % improvement from baseline (p < 0.001). Subject’s satisfaction from their performance, without knowledge of the task scores, was 6.0 ± 2.9 on 0–10 VAS after the music and reached as high as 8.5 ± 1.7 after the hypnotic session (p = 0.01).

Conclusions

Hypnosis-induced MT significantly improves performance on the FLS simulator, which cannot be attributed to its relaxing qualities alone. This study contributes evidence to the effectiveness of MT in surgical skills acquisition and suggests that hypnotic techniques should be used in mental preparation processes. There is a need to further study these effects on operating room performance.

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Disclosures

Drs. Sroka, Arnon, Laniado, Schiff, and Matter have no conflicts of interest or financial ties to disclose.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of General Surgery, Bnai-Zion Medical Center, 47 Golomb Street, Haifa, Israel

    Gideon Sroka, Monica Laniado & Ibrahim Matter

  2. Complementary & Alternative Medicine Services, Bnai-Zion Medical Center, 47 Golomb Street, Haifa, Israel

    Zahi Arnon & Elad Schiff

  3. Faculty of Medicine, Technion, Haifa, Israel

    Gideon Sroka, Monica Laniado, Elad Schiff & Ibrahim Matter

  4. The Max Stern Yezreel Valley College, Emek Yezreel, Israel

    Zahi Arnon

Authors
  1. Gideon Sroka
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  2. Zahi Arnon
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  4. Elad Schiff
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  5. Ibrahim Matter
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Correspondence to Gideon Sroka.

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Sroka, G., Arnon, Z., Laniado, M. et al. Hypnosis-induced mental training improves performance on the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS) simulator. Surg Endosc 29, 1024–1029 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-014-3786-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-014-3786-1

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