Patient shuns anaesthetic and puts himself into ‘trance-like state’ as doctors slice into his leg in hour-long op

A PATIENT let doctors slice open his skin and remove metal plates from his leg with nothing but hypnosis to dull the pain. 

Daniel Gisler bravely shunned general anaesthetic to remain wide awake during the “extraordinary” one-hour procedure in Baden, Switzerland.

You Tube/Kantonsspital BadenMedics operating on a patient, who used hypnosis instead of anaesthetic[/caption]

You Tube/Kantonsspital BadenDaniel Gisler, 55, underwent a one-hour procedure to remove metal from his previously-broken leg[/caption]

The 55-year-old, from Remetschwil, broke his shin and calf bone in an accident at home in March 2022.

He had an operation at the time, but the metal in his body became “bothersome” months later. 

Daniel wanted the plates, nails and screws removed – without any pain relief.

“This is indeed an extraordinary wish,” Karim Eid, head of orthopaedics and traumatology at the Baden Cantonal Hospital, said. 

“As an innovative hospital, we wanted to give patients this experience, especially since we ourselves were curious about whether and how the hypnosis method works.”

Patients undergoing similar procedures would normally require general anaesthesia – a state of controlled consciousness induced by medicines to make you feel sleepy so you don’t move or feel pain. 

Local anaesthetic – which involves numbing an area of the body – may also be used, but Daniel, who needed painkillers for the first op, shunned both. 

Instead, he put himself in a “trance-like state” while medics made a 4in (10cm) incision into his leg. 

Remarkably, he felt a slight pulling sensation during the cut, “but otherwise everything was quite bearable”. 

Daniel could also hear discussions being had in the operating theatre, but he “ignored everyone as best he could”.

‘Moans and twitches’

He said he was hypnotised by listening to “soothing words” from hypnotherapist Lajla Tahic, from Kloten, about 40 minutes before the procedure.

His aim was to enter the Esdaile state – said to be the deepest level of hypnosis, where you can exist virtually pain-free. 

It is named after the surgeon James Esdaile, who put his patients into a trance before operating on them in the 19th century.

“Apart from slight moans and occasional twitches, [Daniel] remained largely calm and his eyes were always closed,” the hospital said in a statement, adding that the most painful part was when surgeons sewed his wound up at the end. 

He also lost very little blood without a tourniquet, which Dr Steven Maurer, deputy senior physician, said was unusual. 

And if that wasn’t impressive enough, Daniel stunned doctors by walking out of the hospital doors just 60 minutes later. 

Dr Maurer said: “It was a very exciting and educational experience for me to have.

“I’m glad I was able to have the procedure done this way.”

But he added that hypnosis does not replace anaesthesia, and it was on standby for Daniel if he had needed it.

Daniel broke his tibia and fibula after going for a swim in his outdoor pool.

He was walking into his living room when he collapsed, but he’s unsure how he fell as “the wooden floor is not slippery at all”.

Daniel’s initial surgery was successful, but one of the screws started to dig in when he was wearing walking boots.

After completing a seven-month course to become a certified OMNI hypnosis therapist, he decided to use it during his removal surgery.

“I learned that hypnosis can be of great help in pain management – and a lot more of course,” he said.

“I also learned that there is a very deep state of hypnosis, called the Esdaile state, which allows the client to be pain-free, or at least the pain feeling is heavily reduced.

“As I had a surgery coming, I thought, ‘Let’s put this into personal practice’.”

Daniel said that while he was aware of what was going on during the procedure, he felt very relaxed.

“Yes, I felt all the manipulations, but mostly with the absence of pain,” he added.

“I felt three moments of pain – when I had the two cuts each side of the left ankle, when they obliterated the capillaries with electricity, and when they stitched up the larger cut – but then I went back to almost no pain.”

On a scale of 0 (no pain) to 10 (absolute agony – comparable to when he broke his leg in the first place) – Daniel rated the first two incidents a three or four, and the stitching a five.

You Tube/Kantonsspital BadenHis aim was to enter the Esdaile state – said to be the deepest level of hypnosis[/caption]

You Tube/Kantonsspital BadenHe suffered very little pain and also lost very little blood[/caption]

You Tube/Kantonsspital BadenDaniel shaking hands with his medical team in Baden, Switzerland[/caption]