Effect of Genre and amplitude of music during laparoscopic surgery

Music is often played in operating theaters. In the literature, the effects of music on surgeons are controversial. We aimed to investigate the effect of different music genres and amplitudes on laparoscopic performance.

Novice surgeons underwent a proficiency-based laparoscopic training curriculum. Participants were required to perform these tasks under three conditions: no music, with music in medium volume (45-50 dB) and in high volume (65-70 dB). Soft rock by the Beatles and hard rock by AC/DC were played. Task performance was evaluated by analyzing speed and accuracy.

With soft rock in medium volume, participants were faster in peg transfer (60.3 vs. 56.7 s, P = 0.012) and more accurate in suture with intracorporeal knot (79.2 vs. 54.0, P = 0.011) compared to without music. The total score was improved (383.4 vs. 337.9, P = 0.0076) by enhancing accuracy (79.5 vs. 54.0, P = 0.011). This positive effect was lost if the soft rock was played in high volume. With hard rock in medium volume, participants were faster performing precision cutting (139.4 vs. 235.8, P = 0.0009) compared to without music. Both balloon preparation and precision cutting were performed more rapidly (227.3 vs. 181.4, P = 0.003, 139.4 vs. 114.0, P < 0.0001) and the accuracy was maintained. Hard rock in high volume also resulted in increased speed (366.7 vs. 295.5, P < 0.0001) compared to without music. Thereby, the total scores of participants were enhanced (516.5 vs. 437.1, P = 0.002).

Our data reveal that the effect of music on laparoscopic performance might depend on the combination of music genre and amplitude. A generally well-accepted music genre in the right volume could improve the performance of novice surgeons during laparoscopic surgeries.

DRKS00026759, register date: 18.10.2021 (retrospectively registered).