Listening to Music After Surgery May Speed Up Recovery: Research Finds

New Delhi: Research presented at the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Clinical Congress 2024 in San Francisco reveals that listening to music can significantly aid recovery after surgery.

The study, led by Dr Eldo Frezza at California Northstate University College of Medicine, found that music can reduce pain, anxiety, heart rate, and opioid use in post-surgical patients.

Dr Frezza’s team analyzed 35 studies from a pool of 3,736, focusing on patient outcomes like pain, anxiety, heart rate, and opioid use. Key findings include:

• Lower Pain: Patients reported about 19% less pain based on the Numeric Rating Scale and 7% less on the Visual Analogue Scale when listening to music.
• Reduced Anxiety: Anxiety scores dropped by 2.5 points (3%) on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory scale.
• Decreased Opioid Use: Patients using music therapy consumed less than half the morphine compared to non-listeners (0.758 mg vs. 1.654 mg).
• Lower Heart Rate: Music listeners experienced 4.5 fewer beats per minute, aiding better circulation and recovery.

“When patients wake up after surgery, sometimes they feel really scared and don’t know where they are,” Dr Frezza said. “Music can help ease the transition from the waking up stage to a return to normalcy and may help reduce stress around that transition.”

Unlike more active therapies like meditation or Pilates, music is passive and can be incorporated by patients without much effort. “Although we can’t specifically say they’re in less pain, the studies revealed that patients perceive they are in less pain, and we think that is just as important,” said first author Shehzaib Raees, a third-year medical student at California Northstate University College of Medicine. “When listening to music, you can disassociate and relax. In that way, there’s not much you have to do or focus on, and you can calm yourself down.”

The researchers also noted that reduced cortisol levels might contribute to improved recovery. Dr Frezza emphasized, “If you feel up for it after surgery, listen to whatever music you enjoy.” He added, “We’re not trying to say that one type of music is better than another. We think music can help people in different ways after surgery because music can be comforting and make you feel like you’re in a familiar place.”

Future research will explore a pilot program to evaluate the use of music in surgical settings and intensive care units.