Could gentle instrumental music played in a patient’s ears during surgery help them? A new study certainly finds so.
A peer-reviewed research by Lok Nayak Hospital and Maulana Azad Medical College in New Delhi, conducted on patients undergoing laparoscopic gallbladder removal, has found that playing music during surgery can significantly aid the recovery of patients and can also, modestly but meaningfully, reduce drug requirements.
Published in the journal Music and Medicine in November, the study was conducted between March 2023 and January 2024 with 56 adults, aged between 18 to 64.
The surgery is usually an hour long and patients received the standard procedure of anesthesia. In addition, for the study, all patients were given the same five drugs — one that prevents nausea and vomiting, a sedative, fentanyl, propofol and a muscle relaxant, said Dr Sonia Wadhawan, director-professor of anaesthesia and intensive care at Maulana Azad Medical College, a supervisor of the study.
“In our study, all the patients received total intravenous anaesthesia with the same drugs, propofol being the main anaesthetic drug, fentanyl was used to provide pain relief and a muscle relaxant was administered. The total intra operative requirement of the anaesthetic was assessed along with the requirement of fentanyl,” she added.
Dr Farah Husain, one of the co-authors, and senior specialist in anaesthesia and a certified music therapist, said the aim of the study “was to find out how music can help patients reduce their stress during their surgery. And if music therapy is induced in the patients, can it also help in giving less sedatives and painkillers to the patients”.
The study found that those who received music therapy reported lower levels of stress hormones — serum cortisol.Their baseline vitals were also more controlled.
“Those who were given music therapy, required a 15% lower dosage of Propofol for maintaining unconsciousness and 38% less fentanyl to help control spikes in blood pressure or heart rate during surgery. They also had a better response post surgery and were more relaxed,” said Dr Tanvi Goel, former senior resident at the department of anesthesia and intensive care Lok Nayak.
Post the operation, while the cortisol levels of the control group rose to an average of 536 International Units (IU) per ml, those in the music group averaged 417 IU per ml, the study said.
For the study the patients were randomly divided into two groups and asked to choose between the music, between flute and piano, Husain said.
Since it was a double-blind study, where neither the participants nor the researchers know who is receiving the actual treatment and who is receiving the placebo or control intervention, until the study is over, “both groups were given noise-cancelling headphones, but only for the one music was played without the doctors and patients knowledge,” Husain added.
The study found that, even under anaesthesia, the patient’s auditory pathway was intact. “They may not have explicit recall but there is an implicit recall,” Husain said.
The researchers added that, during the surgery, doctors used a BIS (Bispectral Index) monitor, a medical device that helps clinicians monitor and adjust anaesthetic drug doses to prevent awareness and facilitate faster recovery.
“The study aims to show that there is a new way of integrating a non-pharmacological tool into surgical practice. There is always a possibility that it may turn out to be ineffective, but it will not have any adverse effects, and it is certainly promising and worth further exploration,” the researchers said.
