Indian study finds music helps patients heal under anaesthesia

A new study finds patients who listen to music during surgery wake faster and need fewer painkillers.

Watch LiveBritish Broadcasting CorporationHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthAudioVideoLiveDocumentariesHomeNewsIsrael-Gaza WarWar in UkraineUS & CanadaUKUK PoliticsEnglandN. IrelandN. Ireland PoliticsScotlandScotland PoliticsWalesWales PoliticsAfricaAsiaChinaIndiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastIn PicturesBBC InDepthBBC VerifySportBusinessExecutive LoungeTechnology of BusinessFuture of BusinessInnovationWatch DocumentariesTechnologyScience & HealthArtificial IntelligenceAI v the MindCultureWatch DocumentariesFilm & TVMusicArt & DesignStyleBooksEntertainment NewsArtsWatch DocumentariesArts in MotionTravelWatch DocumentariesDestinationsAfricaAntarcticaAsiaAustralia and PacificCaribbean & BermudaCentral AmericaEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaSouth AmericaWorld’s TableCulture & ExperiencesAdventuresThe SpeciaListTo the Ends of the Earth EarthWatch DocumentariesNatural WondersWeather & ScienceClimate SolutionsSustainable BusinessGreen LivingAudioPodcast CategoriesRadioAudio FAQsVideoWatch DocumentariesBBC MaestroLiveLive NewsLive SportDocumentariesHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthAudioVideoLiveDocumentariesWeatherNewslettersWatch LiveMusic eases surgery and speeds recovery, Indian study finds2 days agoShareSaveSoutik BiswasIndia correspondentShareSaveBBCA patient with headphones playing music during surgery in a hospital in DelhiUnder the harsh lights of an operating theatre in the Indian capital, Delhi, a woman lies motionless as surgeons prepare to remove her gallbladder.

She is under general anaesthesia: unconscious, insensate and rendered completely still by a blend of drugs that induce deep sleep, block memory, blunt pain and temporarily paralyse her muscles.

Yet, amid the hum of monitors and the steady rhythm of the surgical team, a gentle stream of flute music plays through the headphones placed over her ears.

Even as the drugs silence much of her brain, its auditory pathway remains partly active. When she wakes up, she will regain consciousness more quickly and clearly because she required lower doses of anaesthetic drugs such as propofol and opioid painkillers than patients who heard no music.

That, at least, is what a new peer-reviewed study from Delhi's Maulana Azad Medical College and Lok Nayak Hospital suggests. The research, published in the journal Music and Medicine, offers some of the strongest evidence yet that music played during general anaesthesia can modestly but meaningfully reduce drug requirements and improve recovery.