TOPLINE:

Home-based guided hypnotherapy added to care as usual in children with functional abdominal pain or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) resulted in earlier adequate relief at 3 and 6 months than care as usual alone; however, both groups showed similar relief rates of more than 74% at 12 months. Children who received hypnotherapy also reported lower pain severity and faster sleep onset during follow-up.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a randomised controlled trial in Dutch primary care to evaluate the effectiveness of home-based guided hypnotherapy for children with functional abdominal pain or IBS, with participants recruited from October 2020 to November 2023.
• They included 152 children aged 7-17 years (median age, 9.4 years; 63.8% girls) with chronic gastrointestinal symptoms; functional abdominal pain or IBS was diagnosed by GPs.
• Participants were randomly allocated to receive either home-based guided hypnotherapy intervention via a website for 3 months along with usual care (n = 76) or usual care alone (n = 76), which included education, reassurance, and symptom monitoring.
• Children in the intervention group listened to five audio exercises (one breathing/relaxation exercise and four visualisation exercises), tailored for age groups under 12 years and 12 years or older, for 15-20 minutes per day at least 5 days per week for 3 months.
• The primary outcome was the adequate relief of abdominal pain at 12 months, assessed on the basis of response provided for the relief of abdominal pain and/or discomfort in the past week. Secondary outcomes included adequate symptom relief at 3 and 6 months; pain severity, intensity, and frequency; quality of life; and sleep disturbances.

TAKEAWAY:

• At 12 months, 79.5% of children in the intervention group vs 74.3% of those in the usual care alone group reported adequate relief, with no significant difference observed between the two groups (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.47; 90% CI, 0.74-2.93).
• Children who received hypnotherapy had higher adequate relief rates at 3 months (aOR, 2.74; 90% CI, 1.22-6.13) and 6 months (aOR, 4.26; 90% CI, 1.81-10.04) than those who received usual care alone.
• The intervention group showed significantly lower abdominal pain severity scores than the usual care alone group at 6 months (adjusted beta, -1.38; 90% CI, -2.11 to -0.66) and 12 months (adjusted beta, -0.89; 90% CI, -1.57 to -0.20).
• Pain threat was lower in the intervention group, and a higher proportion of children in the intervention group were able to fall asleep within 20 minutes than those in the usual care alone group at 3, 6, and 12 months.

IN PRACTICE:

"Our findings suggest that hypnotherapy may result in greater pain reductions, lowered pain threat and faster sleep onset compared with care as usual," the authors wrote, adding that "GPs could offer home-based guided hypnotherapy alongside care as usual to help children achieve faster relief via a low-cost, accessible treatment."

SOURCE:

This study was led by Ilse N. Ganzevoort, Department of General Practice and Elderly Care Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands. It was published online on March 30, 2026, in the British Journal of General Practice.

LIMITATIONS:

The sample size was small, which affected the statistical power. Participants, GPs, and researchers were not blinded to the allocated treatment.

DISCLOSURES:

This study received support from the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development, ZonMw. No relevant competing interests were reported by the authors.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.