Medicine: Hypnosis for Surgery

The draped woman patient on the operating table at St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan's Greenwich Village was almost ready for surgery. Her left breast was bared for the surgeon's knife to remove a benign growth. But the patient had been given no anesthesia, was fully conscious. Beside the surgeon stood Chicago's Dr. William S. Kroger, taking the place of the anesthesiologist. His substitute for anesthesia: hypnosis.

Much of Dr. Kroger's work was already done. The night before, he had hypnotized the patient in her own room. Now, with only a cue, he was able to assure her that she would feel no...