OWE-09 Outcomes of gut-focused hypnotherapy in school children and adolescents with severe refractory Irritable Bowel Syndrome

IntroductionIrritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) symptoms in school children and adolescents are relatively common, often causing considerable embarrassment, social withdrawal, disruption to education and psychological distress. Pharmacological options in this group are limited due to safety concerns concerning antidepressants, making behavioural therapies such as gut-focussed hypnotherapy an attractive treatment option. Here, we evaluated outcomes from gut-focussed hypnotherapy in patients with IBS ≤ 18 years of age.MethodsConsecutive young patients (≤18 years of age) with severe IBS symptoms referred to our tertiary neurogastroenterology unit received 12 sessions of gut-focussed hypnotherapy at weekly intervals using the Manchester Protocol. All patients completed the Tellgen Absorption Scale before treatment and all completed the following measures before and after hypnotherapy; IBS symptom severity score (IBS-SSS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HADS), Non Colonic Symptom score and quality-of-life (QoL) score. Interference with education and the impact of hypnotherapy was also recorded. The primary outcome measure was response to hypnotherapy defined by a 50 point reduction in IBS-SSS. Data, expressed as mean ± standard error, were compared statistically before and after treatment using paired t-tests.ResultsYoung patients fulfilling Rome III diagnostic criteria for IBS (n=26, median age 16 (range –8) years, n=17 (65%) female, mean duration of IBS 5.3 ± 0.9 years, n=11 IBS-D, n=6 IBS-C and n=9 IBS-mixed) completed the hypnotherapy programme. Mean baseline IBS-SSS was 321.5 ± 16.0. After hypnotherapy, n=23/26 (88%) responded, with an overall mean reduction in IBS-SSS of -160.9 ± 15.4 (P