Colon Tumor Removed Using Clinical Hypnosis in Torino Patient

Surgeons at the Molinette Hospital in Turin, Italy, have successfully performed a colon tumor resection on a 76-year-old patient who remained awake throughout the procedure. The operation was made possible through the use of clinical hypnosis and a specialized “awake” protocol, providing a surgical solution for a patient who had been deemed inoperable under traditional general anesthesia.

The patient, a man from Puglia, suffered from a bleeding tumor in the right colon. His clinical condition was extremely complex, having recently recovered from a prolonged hospital stay due to a massive pulmonary embolism that resulted in severe respiratory failure. Because of these complications, other facilities had determined he was unfit for surgery under general anesthesia.

The anesthesia team at Molinette Hospital noted that the artificial ventilation required for general anesthesia could have triggered unpredictable respiratory complications in this specific patient. To bypass these risks, Professor Mario Morino, who directs General Surgery Unit 1, and Dr. Valentina Palazzo developed a customized approach to allow the patient to remain conscious.

The Synergistic Surgical Approach

The procedure, specifically a right hemicolectomy involving the surgical removal of the right colon, lasted approximately 60 minutes. The medical team employed a synergistic technique that integrated three primary components:

• Abdominal wall blocks to provide local-regional anesthesia.
• Conscious sedation to keep the patient awake.
• Clinical hypnosis to manage the psychological and sensory experience.

During the operation, the patient conversed with Dr. Valentina Palazzo, who utilized hypnotic techniques to help the patient remain mentally distanced from the surgical site. Reports indicate that the patient experienced a mental journey to the countryside of Puglia, his home region in southern Italy, as a method of managing the experience while remaining awake.

The Role of Clinical Hypnosis in Complex Surgery

Clinical hypnosis was essential in ensuring the patient’s tolerability of the procedure. By reducing mental distress and the need for pharmacological sedative medications, the technique allowed for autonomous breathing and optimal neurovegetative stability throughout the surgery.

This application of hypnosis is used in specific surgical contexts to provide psychological support and reduce reliance on pharmacological analgesia and sedation. The Turin case is reportedly the first internationally documented instance of a major colon resection performed using this specific synergistic combination of local anesthesia and hypnosis.

This approach shares similarities with other specialized medical applications, such as Hypnosis-Assisted Awake Craniotomy (HAAC), where patients remain conscious during brain surgery to allow surgeons to monitor neurological functions in real-time.

By utilizing these techniques, the surgical team was able to provide a life-saving intervention for a fragile patient who would otherwise have been unable to undergo the necessary tumor removal due to the high risks associated with standard anesthetic protocols.