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Does Music Make for Better Surgeons?

While most patients imagine operating theatres to be quiet places devoid of noise other than essential conversations, theatre staff know they are more likely to sound like a rock concert. A 2011 survey found that 90% of UK surgeons listen to music while operating, a figure which has been replicated in a recent survey carried out by the music streaming service Spotify.

surgeons

Top 10 songs played by surgeons

This week Spotify released a list of the top 10 songs played by surgeons with rock being the most popular genre, enjoyed by almost half of surgeons. Spotify worked with Figure 1, a knowledge sharing platform used by healthcare professionals and healthcare students from a variety of specialities. In June 2017 Figure 1 requested those in a surgical specialty share their listening habits in the operating room via an app. The 12 questions took 6 minutes to complete on average, and 73% of respondents answered it on their smartphones. Nearly 700 surgeons and other healthcare professionals from more than 50 countries were represented in the survey, with the majority from the United States.

The 10 most played songs were reported to be:

  1. “Rock You Like a Hurricane”, Scorpions
  2. “Sweet Child O’ Mine”, Guns N’ Roses
  3. “Just What The Doctor Ordered”, Ted Nugent
  4. “Break On Through (To the Other Side)”, The Doors
  5. “Paint It Black”, The Rolling Stones
  6. “Whole Lotta Love”, Led Zeppelin
  7. “We Will Rock You”, Queen
  8. “Back in Black”, AC/DC
  9. “Cocaine”, Eric Clapton
  10. “The Wind Cries Mary”, Jimi Hendrix

The question: Does music help surgeons to relax

Surgeons who listen to rock say the music helps them relax so they can focus on the patient. Various research seems to support this with studies finding that surgeons who were able to listen to music of their own choosing, their blood pressure and heart rate remained steady during procedures. Music can also be helpful to drown out the background noise of machines. Research conducted in 2011 on the influence of music on operation theatre staff concluded that music can aid in improving the work efficiency of medical personal in the operating theatre. Additionally, the majority of OT personnel were aware of the benefits of music and 87% consented to it being played in theatre.

Advice given by the Royal College of Surgeons (UK) is that if music is played during surgery it should not be distracting or played so loud that staff are unable to hear verbal instructions.