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Music for pain relief.

M S Cepeda1, D B Carr, J Lau

  • 1Javeriana University School of Medicine, Department of Anesthesia, Cra 4- 70 -69, Bogota, Colombia. scepeda@javeriana.edu.co

The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
|April 21, 2006
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Music may help reduce pain intensity and opioid use, particularly after surgery. However, the clinical significance of these benefits requires further investigation. This finding is based on a review of randomized controlled trials.

Area of Science:

  • Pain Management
  • Music Therapy
  • Evidence-Based Medicine

Background:

  • The effectiveness of music as a pain treatment remains unproven.
  • Music therapy is increasingly explored for its potential analgesic properties.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To systematically evaluate music's impact on pain intensity, pain relief, and analgesic needs.
  • Assessing music's efficacy across acute, chronic, and cancer pain conditions.

Main Methods:

  • Conducted a comprehensive literature search across multiple databases (Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, LILACS).
  • Included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving music intervention for any pain type in adults and children.
  • Extracted data on pain intensity, pain relief, and opioid requirements, analyzing heterogeneity across different pain models.

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Main Results:

  • Analysis of 51 RCTs (1867 music, 1796 control subjects) revealed significant heterogeneity.
  • Music exposure showed a small reduction in acute postoperative pain intensity (0.5 units on a 0-10 scale).
  • Music intervention increased the likelihood of significant pain relief by 70% (NNT=5) and reduced postoperative opioid requirements.

Conclusions:

  • Listening to music demonstrates a modest ability to decrease pain intensity and reduce opioid consumption.
  • The clinical relevance of music's pain-relieving effects is currently uncertain due to small effect sizes.