Abstract
BackgroundImages evoked immediately before the induction of anesthesia by means of suggestions may influence dreaming during anesthesia. This study is a retrospective re-evaluation of the original prospective randomized trial.MethodsDream reports were studied in two groups. In group 1. dreams of patients who received suggestions, and in group 2, those of the control group of patients who did not. The incidence of dream reports and the characteristics and the theme of the reported dreams were compared among the groups.ResultsIn general, the control and the psychological intervention groups were different in terms of dreaming frequency, and non-recall dreaming. The incidence of dream reports was significantly higher in the suggestion group (82/190 at 10 min and 71/190 at 60 min respectively) than in the control group (16/80 at 10 min and 13/80 at 60 min, respectively; p10 = 0.001 and p60 = 0.002). There were no differences in the nature (thought- like or cinematic), quality (color or B&W) and the mood (positive vs. negative) of the recalled dreams. In general, the contents of the imaginary favorite place and the reported dream were identical in 73.2 %. Among the topics most successfully applied in the operating theater were loved ones (83.8 %), holiday (77.8 %) and sport (63.6 %).ConclusionThe results of the present study suggest that dreams during anesthesia are influenced by suggestions administered immediately preceding anesthesia.Trial registrationThe study was registered in ClinicalTrials.gov. Identifier: Q1 NCT01839201, Date: 12 Apr. 2013.
Highlights
Images evoked immediately before the induction of anesthesia by means of suggestions may influence dreaming during anesthesia
Grouping of the patients Patients were randomly allocated into three groups according to the psychological method as follows: In the control group spontaneous dreams of patients were assessed under anesthesia without suggestions
Comparison of the dream recalls between the control and suggestions groups (Table 2) revealed that in general, the control and the psychological intervention groups were different in terms of dreaming frequency, and non-recall dreaming
Summary
Images evoked immediately before the induction of anesthesia by means of suggestions may influence dreaming during anesthesia. The perioperative period is characterized by a spontaneously altered state of consciousness of our patients due to their illness, the operation, and defenselessness. This is exactly why suggestive communication is an effective tool in our arsenal of perioperative adjunctive therapies even without formal hypnosis induction [6, 7]. Suggestions used immediately before the induction of general anesthesia help us in guiding our patients’ imagination. Patients imagine their favorite place as a dream plan of their own choice which is emotionally important and pleasant to them. Formation of dreams and dream recalls were dependent on the anesthetic technique, especially propofol as an induction agent [8]
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