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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Music during surgery may lessen need for sedation

Linda Searing The Washington Post

The question: Joggers and bus riders frequently are plugged in to their favorite tunes via headphones. Kids doing homework seek distraction and relaxation the same way. If people having surgery listened to music, might it affect their ability to withstand pain?

This study involved 80 adults who agreed to wear headphones while undergoing urological surgery. They were randomly assigned to listen to music they had brought with them, to white noise or to the normal sounds of the operating room. They all received a local anesthetic and were instructed to give themselves additional sedation as needed via a hand-held pump. People who listened to music required less anesthesia overall than either of the other two groups. Of those who listened to music, 72 percent did not use the pump, compared with 28 percent of people who heard white noise and 36 percent of those listening to operating room sounds.

Who may be affected by these findings? Anyone facing surgery involving local anesthesia.

Caveats: The study was not large. Also, operating room noise levels were not measured.

Bottom line: People scheduled for surgery with local anesthesia may want to ask whether listening to music would be possible.

Find this study: June issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia; abstract available online at www.anesthesia-analgesia.org (search for “music” and “2005”).

Learn more about anesthesia options at www.mayoclinic.com and www.asahq.org/patienteducation.