Yes—music can reduce pain and anxiety after an operation for many patients, especially during the first postoperative day. Recent meta-analyses of randomized trials find a meaningful average benefit when music is offered before, during, or after surgery. The intervention is low risk when used appropriately, but it is an adjunct to prescribed analgesics, monitoring, and clinical assessment—not a replacement for pain medicine or urgent care.
The studies do not identify one winning genre, playlist, device, volume, or commercial service. The most practical pattern is a patient-selected, calming session lasting about 30 to 60 minutes, provided it does not prevent communication or hearing alarms.
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What the strongest reviews found
Three large evidence summaries provide the clearest picture. They differ in the operations studied, the music protocols used, and the outcomes measured, so their numbers should be read as average effects across varied settings rather than a guarantee for one individual.
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2024 review: 19 trials and 1,803 patients
Li and colleagues’ 2024 review in the Journal of Integrative and Complementary Medicine pooled 19 randomized controlled trials involving 1,803 patients. Perioperative music was associated with lower pain on postoperative day one, with a standardized mean difference (SMD) of −0.90 (95% confidence interval −1.26 to −0.53). Anxiety was also lower, with an SMD of −0.75 (95% CI −1.19 to −0.31).
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An SMD expresses the difference in standard-deviation units because individual trials used different questionnaires and pain scales. A negative value here favors the music group. The confidence intervals remain below zero, indicating a consistent average direction across the included studies, although the size of benefit for a particular patient can be smaller or larger.
The same review reported that music helped avoid fluctuations in blood pressure and heart rate. It did not find a statistically significant improvement in hospital satisfaction or in postoperative nausea and vomiting.
2023 review: 30 trials and 2,280 participants
Lee and colleagues’ 2023 review in Asian Nursing Research included 30 randomized trials and 2,280 participants. Music intervention was associated with lower anxiety (Hedges g −1.48, 95% CI −1.97 to −0.98) and lower pain (Hedges g −0.67, 95% CI −1.11 to −0.23). The review also found average reductions in systolic blood pressure of 4.62 mmHg and heart rate of 3.37 beats per minute.
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British Journal of Surgery review: a clinically intuitive estimate
Hole and colleagues’ review for the British Journal of Surgery assessed 92 randomized trials involving 7,385 patients; 81 trials contributed to the quantitative meta-analysis. Its pooled results translated to roughly 10 mm less pain and 21 mm less anxiety on 100-mm visual-analogue scales.
A 10-mm change on a 100-mm scale is easier to picture than a standardized effect: if a patient marked pain at 60 mm, the average difference associated with music would be about 50 mm under comparable conditions. It is still an average, not a promised response. The review warned that the studies were heterogeneous and might be affected by publication bias, meaning studies with positive findings may have been more likely to appear in the literature.
What “perioperative” music means
Perioperative music can be delivered at several points. Trials have used music before anesthesia, during an operation, in the recovery area, or on the ward afterward. Because protocols differed, the evidence does not prove that one timing is superior.
| Timing | Potential purpose | What the evidence establishes |
|---|---|---|
| Before surgery | Provide a familiar focus while waiting, during preparation, or before anesthesia. | Preoperative sessions are represented in randomized trials, but no single start time is established as best. |
| During surgery | Offer music while the patient is awake or under lighter forms of anesthesia, subject to the surgical team’s rules. | Some studies include intraoperative delivery; operating-room communication, monitoring, and infection-control requirements take priority. |
| After surgery | Support relaxation during recovery, dressing changes, rest, or the first postoperative day. | The most consistent pooled pain and anxiety signal is reported for postoperative day one, but protocols and operations varied. |
Music is therefore better viewed as a flexible comfort intervention than as a standardized treatment with one required schedule.
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How large is the benefit, and what does it affect?
| Outcome | Finding | Qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Postoperative pain | Lower pain in both the 2024 and 2023 meta-analyses; the BJS review estimated about 10 mm less on a 100-mm scale. | Average effects across heterogeneous operations, populations, and scales. |
| Anxiety | Lower anxiety, with a particularly large standardized effect in the 2023 review; the BJS review estimated about 21 mm less on a 100-mm scale. | Questionnaires and timing differed among trials. |
| Blood pressure | The 2023 review found systolic pressure lower by 4.62 mmHg on average; the 2024 review described fewer fluctuations. | Music does not replace treatment for hypertension, bleeding, shock, or other causes of abnormal readings. |
| Heart rate | The 2023 review found heart rate lower by 3.37 beats per minute on average. | Small changes can reflect many factors, including medication, pain, fluid status, and activity. |
| Nausea and vomiting | No significant improvement in the 2024 pooled analysis. | Use the anti-nausea plan supplied by the clinical team. |
| Hospital satisfaction | No significant improvement in the 2024 pooled analysis. | A lower pain score does not automatically change an overall satisfaction rating. |
These outcomes explain why music can be worthwhile even when it does not reduce every postoperative symptom. A modest reduction in pain or anxiety may make breathing exercises, sleep, mobilization, or communication easier, but those downstream effects were not uniformly established by the reviews.
Does one genre, song, or device work best?
No included review established a universally superior genre, artist, playlist, headphone type, speaker, or streaming platform. Music protocols varied in style, delivery, timing, and duration. Patient preference is therefore the most defensible selection rule: choose music the listener already finds calming, familiar, and non-disruptive.
Characteristics that are practical in hospital
- Familiarity: A known playlist can reduce the effort of choosing music while anxious or sedated.
- Calm rather than stimulating: Avoid tracks that reliably increase excitement, sadness, or distress for that particular listener.
- Predictable volume: Set a level that masks little or none of the surrounding environment.
- Simple controls: Use a playlist that will continue without frequent handling of a phone or player.
- Personal fit: Instrumental, vocal, classical, popular, ambient, or nature-based recordings may all be reasonable if the patient prefers them; comparative superiority has not been proven.
A streaming or playlist service is only a delivery option. It is not a clinically required product, and the evidence does not support choosing one commercial service over another.
A safe, evidence-aligned way to use music
Patients and caregivers can plan a session without turning it into a substitute for medical care. Confirm the hospital’s rules before bringing equipment.
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- Ask the clinical team first. Confirm whether headphones, earbuds, a small speaker, or a personal device are permitted in the preoperative area, operating room, recovery unit, and ward. Staff may need uninterrupted access to alarms, instructions, and examinations.
- Prepare the playlist before admission. Download it if possible so it does not depend on a weak hospital connection. Include enough music for a 30- to 60-minute session, while recognizing that this range is an observed pattern rather than a mandatory dose.
- Set a safe volume. Start quietly and keep the device low enough that the patient can hear a nurse, alarm, or verbal instruction. Do not share earbuds between people, and follow local cleaning or infection-control directions.
- Choose the timing with staff. A session may fit while waiting, during a permitted procedure, in recovery, or after pain medicine has been administered. Staff should decide whether the patient is alert and stable enough to use the device.
- Continue prescribed treatment. Take analgesics and other medicines exactly as directed. Music can accompany a medication plan; it should not be used to postpone a dose that has been ordered or to avoid reporting pain.
- Check the response. After the session, report pain, anxiety, dizziness, nausea, sedation, or hearing difficulty. If the music is irritating or interferes with care, stop it and tell staff.
Music and pain medicine: complementary, not interchangeable
The randomized evidence tests music added to ordinary perioperative care, not music used instead of analgesia. None of the reviews establishes that listening can replace opioids, non-opioid pain relievers, regional anesthesia, wound care, or assessment of a new symptom.
Use the hospital’s pain scale and medication instructions. Ask for help when pain remains high despite the prescribed plan, suddenly becomes worse, changes character, or prevents deep breathing, movement, or sleep. Severe or escalating pain can signal complications such as bleeding, infection, a wound problem, urinary retention, or another condition that music cannot diagnose.
Seek urgent clinical attention for pain accompanied by chest pain, severe shortness of breath, fainting, new confusion, uncontrolled bleeding, a rapidly worsening wound, or other emergency symptoms. Do not put on headphones and wait for a playlist to work when staff assessment is needed.
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Who may benefit, and where the evidence is thinner
Benefits have been reported across several surgical groups, including cardiac and otolaryngology populations. Those subgroup findings are smaller and less uniform than the overall pooled results. An effect observed in one procedure should not be treated as a precise prediction for another.
People with hearing loss, tinnitus, sensory sensitivity, delirium risk, communication barriers, or devices that must remain sterile may need a modified approach. A speaker at low volume, one-ear listening when permitted, or no music at all may be safer than conventional earbuds. Patients who find music emotionally upsetting should not be pressured to use it; relaxation breathing, conversation, a quiet room, or another approved comfort measure may be preferable.
Limitations and unanswered questions
The reviews agree on a direction of benefit but not on a single protocol. Studies differed in patient age, operation, anesthesia, music selection, delivery method, session length, timing, pain medicines, and measurement instruments. Such heterogeneity makes it difficult to calculate an exact dose or to know which patients will respond most.
Blinding is difficult: patients and staff generally know whether music is playing. The cardiac-surgery evidence summary reported limited blinding and risk-of-bias concerns. The BJS review raised possible publication bias. These issues can make an apparent effect look larger or more consistent than it would be in every hospital.
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The evidence also leaves several practical questions open: whether live music is better than recorded music, whether one genre is superior, how many sessions are optimal, and whether music reduces total opioid use enough to change prescribing. Current reviews do not establish those answers.
How hospitals can offer music responsibly
A simple protocol can preserve the benefit while protecting safety and workflow:
- Document that music is optional and obtain the patient’s preference and consent.
- Screen for hearing problems, delirium, sensory intolerance, and any reason the patient must hear continuous alarms or instructions.
- Define approved devices, cleaning procedures, volume limits, and times when headphones are prohibited.
- Record the session’s start time, approximate duration, music chosen, and the patient’s pain and anxiety ratings when those measures are already being collected.
- Stop the session for clinical deterioration, communication difficulty, distress, or a request from the patient or staff.
- Evaluate music as an adjunct alongside analgesia, mobility, sleep, nausea control, and other standard outcomes rather than presenting it as a stand-alone cure.
For an individual recovering from surgery, the practical conclusion is straightforward: a preferred, low-volume 30- to 60-minute session may make the first day less painful or less anxious, and it is generally easy to try when the care team agrees. Keep the intervention optional, maintain access to staff and alarms, and treat any unexpected or severe symptom as a medical issue rather than a playlist problem.
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