Music during surgery may ease patients' recovery

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Music during surgery may ease patients' recovery

By Merritt McKinney

NEW YORK, Dec 14 (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.