Listening to music speeds up recovery after surgery: reduces the sensation of pain perceived by the patient, anxiety and heart rate, according to a study presented this Friday at the annual Congress of the American College of Surgeons.
The authors, researchers from the California Northstate University School of Medicinehave analyzed existing studies on the potential of music to help people recover after surgery.
In total, they have reviewed 3,736 scientific works and have focused especially on the 35 that included precious data on the impact of music on reducing the sensation of pain and anxietyas well as measurements of heart rate and the consumption of opiates as pain relievers after surgery.
Their conclusion is clear: the reduction in cortisol levels that occurs when listening to music, whether through headphones or a speaker, facilitates the recovery of patients, especially in four areas.
Less sensation of pain
Patients who listened to music experienced a statistically significant reduction in pain the day after surgerybased on two scientific measurement scales: the Numerical Rating Scale (around 19% reduction) and the Visual Analog Scale (around 7% reduction).
In all the studies analyzed, the levels of anxiety reported by patients were reduced on average by 3%, based on the scales measuring this disorder. Patients who listened to music consumed less than half as much morphine as those who did not listen to music the day after the intervention: an average of 0.758 milligrams compared to 1.654 for those who did not listen to music.
And fourth, those who listened to music experienced a reduction in heart rate (about 4.5 beats per minute less) compared to patients who did not.
This last piece of information, the authors point out in a statement, is “key” because maintaining a patient’s heart rate within a healthy range, as it allows oxygen and nutrients to circulate better throughout the body and, in particular, through the body. the operated areas.
A cheap, simple and effective therapy
“Although we cannot specifically argue that patients feel less pain, studies agree that patients perceive that they feel less pain, and that is just as important,” emphasizes one of the authors, Shehzaib Raeesmedical researcher at California Northstate University.
“When patients wake up after surgery they sometimes feel very scared and don’t know where they are. “Music can help facilitate the transition from the waking phase to returning to normal, as well as help reduce stress in that transition,” says another of the authors, Eldo Frezzaprofessor of surgery at the same university.
“Unlike other therapies, such as meditation or Pilates, which require considerable concentration or movement, listening to music is a more passive experience and can be incorporated by patients without great cost or difficulty immediately after the operation,” he adds.
The studies reviewed did not control how long patients listened to music or what type of music, but the California team plans to conduct a pilot program to evaluate the use of music in the surgical setting and in the intensive care unit. .
“We believe that music can help people in different ways after surgery, it has been proven to comfort and make the patient feel as if they were in a familiar place, and these two factors are fundamental in recovery,” concludes Raees.
(With information from EFE)
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