A new study from Maulana Azad Medical College and Lok Nayak Hospital, Delhi, has found that playing calming music during general anaesthesia can reduce the need for key anaesthetic drugs and improve recovery after surgery.
Published in the journal Music and Medicine, the research followed 56 patients undergoing laparoscopic gallbladder surgery. All wore noise-cancelling headphones, but only half listened to soft flute or piano music.
Patients exposed to music required lower doses of propofol and fentanyl, showed more stable blood pressure, had reduced stress hormone levels, and woke up faster after surgery.
Doctors say the brain’s auditory pathways remain partly active even under general anaesthesia, allowing music to reduce internal stress responses.
Researchers call this a simple, low-cost way to make surgery more comfortable and potentially safer. Further studies on music-aided sedation are underway.
