Indian Journal of Surgery | 2021
Patient’s Preferred Type of Music: A Non-pharmacologic Postoperative Pain Relief
Abstract
Dear Editor Postoperative moderate to severe pain is a major concern that disrupts sleep, reduces appetite, and lowers quality of life [1]. Although significant dosages of analgesics can alleviate pain, these treatments may have negative effects by imparing blood circulation and respiration along with causing psychological distress. Therby making nonpharmalogical treatments appealing and of interest [2, 3]. Creative pharmacologic pain reliefs such as music interventions, relaxation methods, guided imagery, back massage or pain control management are considered useful aids for patients’ postoperative discomfort [4]. Music is known to produce positive auditory stimulation that can mask unpleasant sounds and emotions of uneasiness. It promotes mental health through creating a familiar atmosphere, alleviates distress, and enhances well-being as well as can improve cognitive functioning for patients [5] but also for team members in the operation theater [6]. Therefore, we evaluated the benefits of preferred music as pain relief and as a non-pharmacologic strategy on 60 patients who underwent abdominal surgery in a single teaching hospital. Inclusion criteria were patients undergoing open abdominal operations under general anesthesia. We excluded patients presented for laparoscopic or rectal surgery, and those who received local, spinal, or epidural anesthesia. All patients were on routine postoperative analgesics. Our data collection instrument comprised the collection of questionnaires about demographic variables, such as level of education, gender, age, type of operation and marital status. Pain intensity scale from 0 to 10 was applied in all patients. Factors influencing pain severity, such as operation procedure, site and size of surgical incision, and analgesic medication, were similar for all patients. The questionnaires were completed during the first post-surgery day. A total of 60 patients (median age of 39) undergoing abdominal surgery were divided into experimental and control group. Consent was taken from the patients and relatives in control group. The patients in the experimental group (n = 30) listened to their favorite music using headphones for 20 min. In the control group(n = 30), headphones were used but no music was played. The environment was improved for all participants by offering them a private room to avoid being disturbed by healthcare workers and visitors. Fisher’s exact test and independent t-tests were computed by Graphpad.com; a p value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The pain intensity decreased from 6.94 to 6.21 in the control group and in the experimental group from 7.06 to 3.25 with no significant difference between the two groups before intervention (Table 1). Furthermore, there was a significant difference between pain intensity in the experimental group before and after intervention, as well as a significant difference in pain intensity between the experimental and control groups after music therapy (Table 1). One limitation of the current study was that we did not study the relationship between the duration of surgery and the pain control with music therapy. This can be subject in a previous study. A previous study compared the effects of listening to preferred music on self-reported pain intensity and physiologic measurements in two groups of patients who underwent open-heart surgery. The experimental group who listened to their preferred music exhibited a statistically significant increase in oxygen saturation and a lower pain score [7]. * Michael El Boghdady [email protected]; [email protected]