A mindfulness session reduced preoperative pain and anxiety in a randomized trial
A single mindfulness session outperformed matched pain education on immediate symptom ratings before knee or hip replacement surgery.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Mindfulness participants reported larger immediate reductions in pain intensity, pain unpleasantness, anxiety and desire for pain medication than participants receiving pain education. This supports a short-term effect on symptoms before joint replacement in this setting. The study does not establish lasting pain relief, better surgical recovery or reduced use of pain medication.
This abstract-based account covers a trial at one site with immediate assessments. The reported medication outcome was desire for medication, so it cannot establish whether participants actually used less medication.
What researchers found
Participants with at least 30% lower pain intensity
Mindfulness versus pain education immediately after the 20-minute session, relative to baseline; pain rated from 0 to 10, P < 0.001.
How sessions were compared
Both sessions were delivered to groups during preoperative education, and both groups improved on pain-related symptoms and anxiety. Matching session format and length helped frame the comparison around the content of the sessions.
Reading the pain result
The central pain result counts participants who met the study's threshold for meaningful improvement. That proportion summarizes how often the threshold was reached; it does not describe the average change in everyone's pain.
The original publication
A Brief, Single-Session Mindfulness Intervention Decreased Surgical Patients' Preoperative Pain, Pain Medication Desire, and Anxiety: Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial.
Hanley AW, Coleman C, Davis A et al.
J Am Acad Orthop Surg · 2026
- PubMed ID
- 41793773
- Record checked
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