A study at Cochin Hospital in Paris, France has demonstrated that playing music to patients prior to cataract surgery under local anaesthetic can reduce hypertension.
A total of 309 participants undergoing a phacoemulsification procedure for their first cataract were assessed. For 20 minutes prior to surgery, one patient group was played music via headphones, while a control group used noise-cancelling headphones without music. Hypertension in the ‘music group’ was reported as 13.6% versus nearly 60% in the control group. Researchers also noted that the mean (SD) number of sedative drug injections required during surgery was 0.04 vs 0.54 in the music vs control groups.
Hypertensive events during cataract surgery may induce complications and personalised music intervention prior to surgery may lower anxiety levels, hypertension and the need for sedatives, they reported.
