Hypnotherapy speeds pediatric abdominal pain relief

Adding home hypnotherapy improved earlier pain relief, but not 12-month relief.
*Pragmatic randomized controlled trial; Level 2 (OCEBM).

Citation

Ganzevoort IN, Berger MY, de Boer MR, Benninga MA, Vlieger AM, Holtman GA. Effectiveness of hypnotherapy for paediatric abdominal pain in primary care: a randomised controlled trial. Br J Gen Pract. 2026; DOI: 10.3399/BJGP.2025.0459.

Background

Functional abdominal pain and irritable bowel syndrome in children commonly impair mood, school attendance, sleep, and quality of life. Hypnotherapy helps in specialty care, but its value in primary care was uncertain.

Patients

152 Dutch children aged 7–17 years with general-practitioner-diagnosed functional abdominal pain or irritable bowel syndrome. Exclusions included organic gastrointestinal disease, current specialist treatment, intellectual disability, psychotic disorder, recent hypnotherapy, or poor Dutch comprehension.

Intervention

Usual care plus website-based guided hypnotherapy audio exercises, 15–20 minutes daily, at least 5 days weekly, for 3 months.

Control

Usual primary care: education, reassurance, symptom monitoring, and follow-up.

Outcome

Primary: adequate relief of abdominal pain or discomfort at 12 months. Secondary: earlier relief, pain severity (0–10), pain intensity and frequency (0–21), quality of life, pain beliefs, mood, physical symptoms, school absence, and sleep.

Follow-up Period

3, 6, and 12 months.

Results

At 12 months, adequate relief was not significantly different: 79.5% with hypnotherapy versus 74.3% with usual care.

OutcomeTimeHypnotherapyUsual careEffect
Adequate relief3 months73.2%56.8%Adjusted odds ratio 2.74; NNT 7
Adequate relief6 months77.6%58.6%Adjusted odds ratio 4.26; NNT 6
Pain severity6 monthsMedian 3Median 5Adjusted difference −1.38
Pain severity12 monthsMedian 3Median 5Adjusted difference −0.89
Pain intensity12 monthsMedian 2Median 5Adjusted difference −2.19
Pain frequency12 monthsMedian 2Median 4.8Adjusted difference −2.82

Analyses were primarily intention-to-treat. Usual care was the current available primary-care treatment. No adverse events were spontaneously reported.

Limitations

The trial was smaller than planned, used a relaxed statistical threshold and 90% confidence intervals, and was unblinded. Most significant findings were secondary outcomes. Media recruitment and strong preference for hypnotherapy may limit generalizability and increase expectation effects.

Funding

Dutch public research funder; funder had no study role.

Clinical Application

Consider home guided hypnotherapy as an optional add-on for children needing faster relief; it should not replace usual reassurance and follow-up.