The Effect of Intraoperative Music on Sedation, Anxiety, and Hemodynamic Responses among Patients Undergoing Lower Segment Cesarean Section under Spinal Anesthesia

Background and Aim: Anxiety levels are high in spinal anesthesia as patients are awake. Sedation has an advantage that patients feel comfortable but if sedative drugs are not used judiciously, they can suppress the cardiovascular and respiratory system, lower core body temperature, or severely lower blood pressure. Music reduces awareness under anesthesia and has antianxiety effects. The effect of music on sedation using bispectral index (BIS) along with anxiety and hemodynamic parameters at different time intervals has been studied. Material and Methods: A hospital-based prospective randomized interventional study was done on 60 patients aged between 18 and 35 years undergoing lower segment cesarean sections. Two groups ( music headphones with music and nonmusic headphones without music), each containing 30 subjects, were formed using a simple random technique by the sealed envelope method. The levels of sedation using BIS were measured preoperatively, after giving spinal anesthesia, then every 10 min till the end of surgery. Moreover, hemodynamic parameters were also monitored and recorded preoperatively and every 10 min till the end of surgery. Anxiety was measured using a visual analog score for anxiety preoperatively and postoperatively. Results: The BIS index was significantly lower in the music group compared to the nonmusic group from 20 min after start of surgery to the end of surgery (86.17 ± 4.48 vs. 75.73 ± 3.97, P < 0.001). Anxiety was also significantly lower in the music group than in the nonmusic group (4.03 ± 1.47 vs. 0.50 ± 1.57, P < 0.005). Heart rate (HR) was lower in the music group after 20 min of music therapy compared to the nonmusic group (87.87 ± 11.21 vs. 79.67 ± 6.67, P = 0.004) but there was no statistically significant difference in systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial blood pressure, and saturation of oxygen between two groups. Conclusion: Our data showed that intraoperative music listening under regional anesthesia has effect on sedation, anxiety, and physiological variables. Therefore, music therapy can be used as nonpharmacological intervention for reducing anxiety and sedation during surgery.