Music speeds up recovery of patients after surgery, new study suggests

Listening to music under general anesthesia appears to accelerate recovery and reduce the amount of drugs required after surgery, according to new research from the Maulana Azad Medical College and Lok Nayak Hospital in Delhi.

Researchers undertook an 11-month trial with 56 adults aged between 20 and 45 who were undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy, the standard keyhole operation to remove the gallbladder.

Results found that patients who were exposed to soft piano or flute sounds during surgery required lower doses of drugs - including the opioid fentanyl, and propofol, the anaesthesia that became notorious after Michael Jackson’s death.

Patients who listened to music also experienced reduced levels of the stress hormone cortisol, with better control of blood pressure during surgery, per the research.

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"The auditory pathway remains active even when you're unconscious," Dr Sonia Wadhawan told the BBC. "You may not remember the music, but the brain registers it."

"Although the patient is unconscious and will remember nothing, their body still reacts to the stress with changes in heart rate, blood pressure, and stress hormones."

A reduced need for drugs could have positive implications on the medical world, researchers suggest - with the use of less opioid painkillers, patients could awaken faster with steadier vital signs and reduced side effects.

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The study hopes to help patients be discharged swiftly after surgery.

"We're only beginning to explore how the unconscious mind responds to non-pharmacological interventions like music," Dr Farah Husain also told the BBC. "It's a way of humanising the operating room."

It is also considered a step in unlocking the potential of the 'unconscious mind'. Researchers suggest that if the brain is capable of remembering stressful experiences during surgery whilst unconscious, it may also be able to pick up positive ones.

You can read the study here.

Annabel Craddock is a freelance journalist, follow her on Instagram