Acupuncture and Hypnosis for Pain Management in a Child with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: A Single-Case Experimental Design

Pirnia, Bijan; Malekanmehr, Parastoo; Sadeghi, Paria; Pirnia, Kambiz; Zahiroddin, Alireza

doi:10.30476/mejc.2021.85868.1310

Acupuncture and Hypnosis for Pain Management in a Child with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: A Single-Case Experimental Design

Document Type : Case Report(s)

Authors

Bijan Pirnia ¹^{, 2}

Parastoo Malekanmehr ³

Paria Sadeghi ⁴

Kambiz Pirnia ⁵

Alireza Zahiroddin ⁶

¹ Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

² Bijan Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, Tehran, Iran

³ Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Tonekabon Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tonekabon, Iran

⁴ Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Tehran Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

⁵ Cardiology Fellowship, Technical Assistant in Bijan Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, Tehran, Iran

⁶ Department of Psychiatry, Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.30476/mejc.2021.85868.1310

Abstract

Burn and wound care process for children is very painful and distressing. Hypnosis is used as a technique to reduce pain and anxiety caused by burns in adults. Acupuncture is also applied to reduce pain and improve psychological indices. However, the effectiveness of the two treatments in children has not been compared so far. In a single-case experimental design, from October 2015 to June 2016, an eight-year-old child with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and a severe left-hand burn was selected through the purposely sampling method and was treated in the form of a reverse A1B1A2B2 design in four time intervals, including sham, acupuncture, natural hypnosis, and clinical hypnosis, and was evaluated over a 24-week period. Data were analyzed via generalized estimation equation (GEE) and Repeated Measures Correlation (rmcorr) SPSS version 22. The primary outcomes showed that hypnosis had a significant effect on pain and anxiety (all P values < 0.05) and did not have any effect on the salivary cortisol level (P = 0.93). Additionally, acupuncture had a significant effect on reducing the pain, anxiety, and cortisol levels (all P values < 0.05). Secondary outcomes revealed a significant positive correlation between pain, anxiety, and cortisol (all P values < 0.01). The results of this study, consistent with the research background, indicated the effectiveness of each treatment on specific physical and psychological indices. These results can be considered in designing appropriate therapeutic programs although the explanation of the gap between the effectiveness of the two treatments requires further studies.

Keywords

Hypnosis

Acupuncture

Burn

Cancer

Pain

How to cite this article:

Pirnia B, Malekanmehr P, Sadeghi P, Pirnia K, Zahiroddin A. Acupuncture or hypnosis for pain management in a child with acute lymphoblastic leukemia: A single-case experimental design. Middle East J Cancer. 2022;13(1):177-82. doi: 10.30476/mejc.2021.85868.1310.

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