The magazine of the european research area European Commission Copenhagen, a missed chance?

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Operation being carried out under hypnosis at the 

Hôpital Saint-Luc. Anaesthesist Dr Christine Watremez 

(above) and surgeon Dr Parla Astarci and surgical 

instruments nurse Rosie Enonyi (left).

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Clamping and opening the artery 

to perform endarterectomy 

(removal of atherosclerotic plaque 

that causes narrowing of the 

vessel).

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The patient, back in his room, 

with nurse Sophie Mertz, Dr Parla 

Astarci and Dr Christine Watremez 

(left to right).

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eu No. 63 | APRIL 2010 

29

Adapting the surgeon’s movements  

At times he opens his eyes, mumbles a few 

words, grasps the anaesthetist’s hands, or seems 

deeply asleep. And what if it does not work? 

“If the patient is motivated, ready to cooperate 

and we have his trust, it will work!”, comes 

Fabienne Roelants’ and Christine Watremez’s 

unhesitating response. In six years they have 

never had a single failure.

Apart from Christine Watremez, everybody 

keeps silent, except for a few whispers here and 

there. Occasionally, the anaesthetist gets up to 

sees how things are going from the other side 

of the operating table. Here too, practice has 

totally changed.

“You need to act like a musician playing 

a masterpiece”, is the immediate reaction from 

endocrine specialist Michel Mourad, who was 

the first to operate on patients under hypnosis 

at Saint-Luc. “The patient remains awake in our 

hands. He feels and experiences our move-

ments. He reads our emotions. This imposes 

strict rules on us”, he explains. 

Some general rules first of all: “the surgeon 

needs to avoid any tugging and to be gentle in 

his movements. Today we have new coagula-

tion and sectioning tools which allow us to 

reduce the number of movements and noisy 

changes of instruments. Then there is the nec-

essary self-control. “If bleeding occurs during 

surgery, I must remain cool. Otherwise the 

patient will sense my stress and become anx-

ious. We need to possess the technical exper-

tise to overcome any difficulties calmly. Which 

is why it seems to me that you need a certain 

experience on the job before launching into 

hypno-anaesthesia.”

On waking

The anaesthetist has been talking to Jean in 

this special voice throughout the operation. 

Once the wound has been sutured, she 

resumes her normal voice and says: “There you 

are, sir, the surgery is finished!” He opens 

his eyes and thanks her warmly. “It’s very rare 

that patients thank us after a traditional anaes-

thetic. With hypno-anaesthesia, they do so 

every time”, Christine Watremez tells us. 

“They’re surprised at the experience but hap-

py at having gone through it. Above all, 

they  realise that you can’t just make them 

do  anything you want, and they’re not 

being manipulated. A few moments later, Jean 

is sitting up in bed and asking Parla Astarci: 

“Say doctor, as the left one [carotid, editor's 

note] went so well, possibly you could oper-

ate my right one as well?” A  successful 

landing. 

In the recovery room, he confides: “I’m 

pleasantly surprised. I didn’t expect it to be 

as comfortable, as easy. I was thinking all the 

time of Sicily, as if I was there. Did he feel any-

thing?” Two or three pricks, but quite bearable. 

He finds it hard to put his experience into 

words, other than to express the conviction: 

“I was conscious, but I was elsewhere.”