A new study
has identified that listening to music
may aid to recovery for patients who have undergone surgery
Researchers found patients who listened to music before, during or
after surgery experienced less pain and anxiety.
Published in
The Lancet, the study found
that patients who listened to music before, during or after a surgical
procedure feel less pain and anxiety than patients who did not listen to music.
According to
the authors of this latest study - led by Dr. Catharine Meads from Brunel
University in the UK - music has been used to improve patients' hospital
experience for decades.
However,
these studies have not encouraged the use of music as a day-to-day intervention
in surgical practice, likely "because information about effectiveness has
not been synthesized and disseminated universally," according to the
authors. For example, studies have primarily focused on how music impacts
patients' recovery following specific types of surgery.
For their
study, Dr. Meads and colleagues analyzed 72 randomized controlled trials
involving almost 7,000 patients undergoing surgery. The trials assessed how
music - played either before, during or after.
Specifically,
they looked at how music affected the pain and anxiety of patients following
surgery, their need for pain medication and the length of their hospital stay.
Compared
with patients who were not played music, those who were reported experiencing
much less pain and anxiety following surgery, and they were also less likely to
need pain medication. In addition, music appeared to increase patients' overall
satisfaction after surgery.
Music
appeared to have no significant impact on patients' length of hospital stay.
These
results rang true regardless of whether patients were played music before,
after or during surgery, though the effects were strongest among those who
listened to music prior to surgery.
'If music was a drug, it would be marketable'
Based on
these findings, Dr. Meads told Medical News Today that music should be
incorporated into therapeutic interventions for hospital patients, noting that
"if it was a drug with this effect, it would be marketable." She
adds:
"Music
is a noninvasive, safe, cheap intervention that should be available to everyone
undergoing surgery. Patients should be allowed to choose the type of music they
would like to hear to maximize the benefit to their wellbeing."
Still, Dr.
Meads believes music could be an effective therapeutic strategy for helping
patients recover from surgical procedures. She told MNT this may be down
to the calming effect music has on us, or it could be because it provides us
with a sense of familiarity if it is music we have selected ourselves.
Next, the
team plans to investigate the pros and cons of introducing music to a surgical
setting by testing the approach in a small number of mothers undergoing
Cesarean section.
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