Music in the PACU: New Study from Sweden

Music in the Post-anesthesia care unit? New study documents benefits! Intensive Crit Care Nurs. 2009 Aug;25(4):208-13. Epub 2009 May 14. Patients' perception of music versus ordinary sound in a postanaesthesia care unit: a randomised crossover trial. Fredriksson AC, Hellström L, Nilsson U. Dep. Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Malmoe University Hospital, Sweden. We performed an experimental single-blind crossover design study in a postanaesthesia care unit (PACU): (i) to test the hypothesis that patients will experience a higher degree of wellbeing if they listen to music compared to ordinary PACU sounds during their early postoperative care, (ii) to determine if there is a difference over time, and (iii) to evaluate the importance of the acoustic environment and whether patients prefer listening to music during their stay. Two groups received a three-phase intervention: one group (n=23) experienced music-ordinary sound-music and the second group (n=21) experienced ordinary sound-music-ordinary sound. Each period lasted 30 min, and after each period the patients assessed their experience of the sound. The results demonstrated a significant difference (p<0.001) between groups in the proportions of patients reporting that the acoustic environment was of great importance for their wellbeing during the three-phase intervention, and most participants (n=36 versus n=8) noticed that they were exposed to different sounds during the PACU period. The results also revealed that most participants (n=32) preferred listening to music versus listening to ordinary sound (n=3) while in the PACU (p<0.001). These findings promote use of listening to music to establish a healing environment for patients in a postanaesthesia care unit

New Research Study on Music Medicine with Children

Paediatr Anaesth. 2009 Oct 23. [Epub ahead of print] School-aged children's experiences of postoperative music medicine on pain, distress, and anxiety. Nilsson S, Kokinsky E, Nilsson U, Sidenvall B, Enskär K. Department of Paediatric Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Unit, The Queen Silvia Children's Hospital, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg. Aim: To test whether postoperative music listening reduces morphine consumption and influence pain, distress, and anxiety after day surgery and to describe the experience of postoperative music listening in school-aged children who had undergone day surgery. Background: Music medicine has been proposed to reduce distress, anxiety, and pain. There has been no other study that evaluates effects of music medicine (MusiCure((R))) in children after minor surgery. Methods: Numbers of participants who required analgesics, individual doses, objective pain scores (Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability [FLACC]), vital signs, and administration of anti-emetics were documented during postoperative recovery stay. Self-reported pain (Coloured Analogue Scale [CAS]), distress (Facial Affective Scale [FAS]), and anxiety (short State-Trait Anxiety Inventory [STAI]) were recorded before and after surgery. In conjunction with the completed intervention semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted. Results: Data were recorded from 80 children aged 7-16. Forty participants were randomized to music medicine and another 40 participants to a control group. We found evidence that children in the music group received less morphine in the postoperative care unit, 1/40 compared to 9/40 in the control group. Children's individual FAS scores were reduced but no other significant differences between the two groups concerning FAS, CAS, FLACC, short STAI, and vital signs were shown. Children experienced the music as 'calming and relaxing.' Conclusions: Music medicine reduced the requirement of morphine and decreased the distress after minor surgery but did not else influence the postoperative care.

Surgery Headphones or Surgery Music Download

Since I created my headphones for surgery last year, I also decided to offer just the download of the music as well. Lately, more people are choosing to download the music to put on their own MP3 players. Obviously I think this is a wonderful idea, better than having no music or taking in music that could actually energize the body and require more anesthesia to relax the body and keep it asleep. The ideal solution though is the surgery music headphones. This is because you can have the music delivered directly to the brain, through the 8th cranial nerve, and you can avoid all wires and cords. Any MP3 player in the world today has two wires that lead from the player to the headphones or earbuds. My headphones have NO wires or cords and deliver the music from a programmed chip in the headphone itself, powered by a lithium battery. In the past year, NO ONE has been prevented from taking the headphones into surgery! As a matter of fact, patients report that the doctors and nurses are fascinated by the headphones and music and eager to see them work! If you or anyone you know is having surgery, go immediately to www.surgicalheadphones.com and check these out. Thanks!

I've Come Full Circle!

Last night I had a once in a lifetime experience. The dear man who has been my mentor in the field of music medicine for twenty years now, was in the hospital recovering from an emergency appendectomy, and I was able to deliver him a set of my surgery headphones to use during his recovery! If it were not for Dr. Arthur Harvey, these headphones would not exist and now, he got to benefit from them! Dr. Harvey reported that the quality of music was "amazing" and as I stood there talking with his son, Dr. Harvey was smiling and singing along with the favorite hymns I had put on just for him! Needless to say I am thrilled to be able to help the man who is responsible for my being where I am in this wonderful profession and am trusting that he will continue to recover and maybe do so faster and with less pain, thanks to the music he tadught me about long ago!

Rave Reviews come in of my Surgery Headphones

Well I had a wonderful experience tonight at a banquet I attended. I was not expecting to know many of the people who were there, but to my delight, there was a woman MD who bought my headphones a few months ago for her knee replacement surgery! I had not heard from her and although I try to follow up with all my customers, had not gotten back to her. During the break before the speaker she saw me and came over to me with a BIG smile on her face. She said the the headphones did great and she was so thrilled the the doctors and nurses not only allowed her to wear them all the way through her surgery, but that they were quite excited and intrigued but the whole idea and said they had been reading about them! Needless to say, i was thrilled! Who's next??!!

Music during Surgery: A video report

This music was planned and played by my friend and mentor, Dr. Arthur Harvey. Since this was created, Dr. Harvey has moved from Honolulu to the Sarasota area. I will be in Sarasota from Oct. 22-26 and available to consult with folks about music during surgery. Let me know if you live in the area and would like to meet. More info to come! Stay tuned!

How does entrainment work?

Entrainment is the main reason why music during surgery works! In the process of entrainment, your bodies natural rhythms such as heart-rate and breathing, automatically synchronize with the pulse of music. In an everyday example, when you hear strongly rhythmic music such as high-energy disco music, rock-and-roll, or a Sousa march, you automatically start tapping your toe, bobbing your head or actually dancing! Research in music therapy has proven time and again that the body responds to music even when in a coma state or asleep. When you are under general anesthesia, you can still be tense, anxious and require the maximum safe dose of anesthesia. When you have slow, steady, soothing music coming into your brain through headphones, your body automatically relaxes and entrains with that music, thus allowing you to take the MINIMUM safe amount of anesthesia. My "Surgical Serenity Headphones" have only been on the market for 5 months, but already word is spreading and they are selling every day. If you are interested in using these for your surgery, but feel that you can't afford them, contact me and I will work something out with you! To read more about them click here.