Music Can Soothe And Help Patients Undergoing Surgery

India-West News Desk

NEW DELHI – Music built around the soothing contours of Hindustani ragas like Yaman and Kirwani were part of a new clinical study here, which found that calming instrumental pieces can measurably improve a patient’s experience under the scalpel.

 Researchers at Lok Nayak Hospital and Maulana Azad Medical College say these ragas, often rendered on flute or piano, helped reduce stress and the need for anesthetic drugs during laparoscopic gallbladder surgery.

Published in the journal Music and Medicine, the peer-reviewed study tracked 56 patients aged 18 to 65 between March 2023 and January 2024. All underwent the same surgical procedure and received an identical anesthetic regimen that included an anti-nausea drug, a sedative, fentanyl, propofol, and a muscle relaxant. Everyone wore noise-cancelling headphones.. Most chose the flute composition weaving Yaman and Kirwani, selected by the team for its calming, uplifting structure.

The study’s focus was on how much propofol the patients needed to stay safely unconscious. Those who heard music required significantly less of the drug, averaging 6.7 milligrams per kilogram per hour compared with 7.86 in the control group. They also needed fewer extra doses of fentanyl to manage blood pressure or heart rate spikes.

Stress levels told a similar story. Serum cortisol, a key marker of physiological stress, climbed sharply in patients who had silence during surgery, reaching an average of 536 IU per ml. In the music group, postoperative cortisol averaged 417.

Patients who heard music woke more smoothly from anaesthesia and reported greater satisfaction a day after surgery. The authors conclude that receptive music therapy is a safe, low-cost tool that can reduce intraoperative drug requirements and improve overall surgical outcomes without side effects.