BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:

• Casarin et al. (JMIG, 2021) assessed the superiority of a music therapy intervention vs usual care in reducing the preoperative anxiety of patients undergoing total laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH) for benign indications

METHODS:

• Randomized controlled study
• Participants
  • Patients undergoing TLH for benign disease
• Interventions
  • 1 hour of music therapy with a music therapist prior to anesthesia
  • Usual care
• Study design
  • Participants were randomized 1:2 to music and control groups, respectively
  • Anxiety was evaluated with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Y Form (STAI-Y)
    • Pathologic anxiety was defined as STAI-Y state >45
  • Postoperative pain was registered using the visual analog scale
• Primary outcome
  • Anxiety levels at baseline and during preoperative, early postoperative, and late postoperative periods
  • Postoperative pain

RESULTS:

• Music group: 30 patients | Control group: 70 patients

Anxiety Level

• Women in the Music arm experienced lower anxiety levels during the preoperative period (P=0.002)
  • Music group: median STAI-Y scores 38.0
  • Control group: 41.0
• STAI-Y scores did not vary significantly at each subsequent time point

Pathologic Anxiety

• There was a significant difference in the proportion of women with pathologic anxiety during the
  • Preoperative period (P=0.04)
    • Music group: 16.7%
    • Control group: 37.2%
  • Early postoperative period (P=0.04)
    • Music group: 0%
    • Control group: 12.9%
• No significant differences between groups during the
  • Late postoperative period (P=0.93)
    • Music group: 6.6%
    • Control group: 7.1%

Pain Intensity

• Postoperative pain intensity did not significantly differ between the groups at 1, 3, and 6 hours after surgery

CONCLUSION:

• Music therapy may reduce the amount of perioperative anxiety patients experience during total laparoscopic hysterectomy for benign indications
• The authors state

Music therapy seems a viable complementary modality to usual surgical care in the gynecologic setting for its ability to significantly decrease preoperative anxiety

Women undergoing hysterectomy are a distinct patient group at higher risk of preprocedural anxiety and its detrimental effects and would most benefit from anxiety-reduction interventions

Learn More – Primary Sources:

Music Therapy for Preoperative Anxiety Reduction in Women Undergoing Total Laparoscopic Hysterectomy: A Randomized Controlled Trial

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