Tapes: Medicine in the Message?

For years, children have clutched their teddy bears on their way to the operating room. Now, grown-ups have something to hold on to. But it’s not a stuffed toy, it’s a stereo.

Tuning out during surgery can result in an easier, less painful recovery, according to a recent Scottish study. And patients who are permitted to wear personal stereo headsets find they also reduce unpleasant hospital noise, including operating room conversation.

In the Scottish study, 57 women undergoing hysterectomies at two Glasgow hospitals wore personal stereos into the operating room. Half of the patients listened to tapes with messages such as “Any pain that you feel after the operation will not concern you.” Others heard the “non-sound” of blank tape. After surgery, the women were allowed to administer their own pain-relief medication. Those who listened to reassuring statements used 23% less morphine, according to the report recently published in the British Medical Journal.

The study findings replicate those of several other studies, experts say. In a study done at Jefferson General Hospital in Port Townsend, Wash., for instance, patients who listened to Brahms and other classical selections were found to have reductions in heart rate and blood pressure. A London physician found that patients who heard tapes with positive messages during surgery had fewer side effects and were discharged earlier than those who heard blank tapes.

“It’s difficult to say exactly what the mechanism (of the music or taped messages) is,” said Dr. David Fung, a staff anesthesiologist at St. Joseph Medical Center, Burbank. “But what could it hurt?” Fung keeps stereo headphones handy in his office and encourages patients to wear them to the operating room.

During anesthesia administration, the sense of hearing is the last sense to leave and the first to return, doctors know. “Patients are most susceptible to suggestion when they are just going under anesthesia and coming out of it,” Fung said.

“Personal stereos are also especially helpful during operations using regional anesthesia (in which only part of the body is numbed and the patient is conscious),” added Dr. David Lees, professor and chairman of anesthesiology at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington. “It blocks unpleasant noises.” Not to mention any possibly distressing surgical chatter.

Will some doctors balk at a plugged-in patient? Fung and Lees think not, citing a growing number of doctors who approve of the practice. But they suggest calling the hospital before admission to check out the policy on headphones. “Some hospitals would rather provide their own stereo than have the patient bring it,” said Lees, who is chair of the Committee on Equipment and Facilities for the American Society of Anesthesiologists.

Besides listening to music and soothing messages, patients facing surgery can prepare themselves in other ways. Here are some of the self-help steps experts suggest:

* Quit smoking.

* Maintain your exercise routine.

* Strive to keep medical problems like high blood pressure under control.

* Schedule a preoperative visit with your anesthesiologist and surgeon for a verbal walk-through of your surgery.

* Follow instructions not to eat or drink before surgery.