Music During Surgery May Ease Patients' Recovery

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Friday December 14 5:26 PM ET

Music During Surgery May Ease Patients' Recovery

By Merritt McKinney

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Hearing soothing music and encouraging words while

under anesthesia may ease patients' recovery after surgery, results of a Swedish

study suggest.

Women undergoing hysterectomies who listened to relaxing music and sounds of

ocean waves while under general anesthesia experienced less pain, were less

fatigued when released from the hospital, and were able to sit up sooner after

their operation than patients who did not listen to music, researchers report.

And women who listened to music and encouraging words during the operation

needed less pain medication immediately after surgery and were also less likely

to feel tired when they went home from the hospital, according to findings

published in a recent issue of the journal Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica.

Even though people are unconscious when under general anesthesia, research

suggests that the brain may be more aware of what happens during surgery than

previously thought. Because of this so-called intra-operative awareness,

patients may overhear the remarks of doctors and nurses, which could lead to

anxiety and dissatisfaction after surgery, Dr. Ulrica Nilsson at Orebro Medical

Center Hospital in Sweden and colleagues report.

To protect patients from inappropriate or misinterpreted comments overheard

during surgery, ``taped soothing music or music in combination with therapeutic

suggestions could be provided to all patients undergoing surgery under general

anesthesia,'' Nilsson told Reuters Health.

``It is a noninvasive and inexpensive intervention that can improve some

postoperative outcomes such as pain and fatigue,'' she said.

Nilsson's team based their conclusions on a study of 90 women who were randomly

assigned to listen to music, a combination of music and therapeutic words or

ordinary sounds of the operating room during a hysterectomy.

Although music and therapeutic suggestions provided benefits to patients, it did

not have any effect on several other factors, including nausea, length of

hospital stay and bowel function after surgery. It is unclear, the researchers

note, why music alone and music in combination with soothing words did not

provide the same benefits.

The findings need to be confirmed in additional studies, the authors note.

SOURCE: Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica 2001;45:812-817.