The unity of music and surgery: Music application in the perioperative period

Abstract

Application of music has positive effects on physical, emotional and spiritual well-being, stress reduction, patients' and medical staff mood improvement, making the work environment more pleasant for both patients and staff. The aim of this narrative review is to present facts about perioperative music implementation and effects on patients and medical staff. In highly developed countries, music provided by professionals in the form of music therapy is incorporated in patients' care on the wards or in the recovery room to improve their mood, prevent depression and enable physical rehabilitation and relaxation. Perioperative music application decreases postoperative pain intensity and anxiety level, and increases patient's satisfaction. So far, music therapy application was studied in patients undergoing gynecological procedures, Caesarean section, breast surgery, urological procedures, cardiovascular surgery, abdominal surgery, orthopedic and maxilofacial surgery and different kinds of diagnostic and interventional procedures. Moreover, in real life, music is present on daily bases during performances in the operating rooms all over the world. There is an open question about music's influence on surgical team performance. In the operating room, choice of music and its perception differs depending on professional status and medical specialty. Music can improve surgeons' performance in the operating room. Type of music and its volume needs to be carefully chosen if music is used in the operating room, to prevent distraction of medical staff during performance. In surgical patients, music as nonpharmacological method can be safely used in the perioperative period as adjuvant therapy to pain medications, for anxiety and pain relief.

Keywords

• music therapy
• pain therapy
• non-pharmacological methods
• operating room