Therapeutic suggestion has not effect on postoperative morphine requirements

Area of Science:

• Anesthesiology
• Cognitive Psychology
• Medical Education

Background:

• Therapeutic auditory suggestions during surgery may influence patient recovery and memory.
• Previous studies suggested intraoperative suggestions could reduce pain and improve anesthesia recovery.
• Assessing implicit memory for intraoperative information is crucial for understanding subconscious processing during anesthesia.

Purpose of the Study:

• To confirm the effect of intraoperative auditory suggestion on anesthesia recovery.
• To establish the effect of preoperative suggestion on anesthesia recovery.
• To assess implicit memory for intraoperative information using an indirect memory task.

Main Methods:

• Sixty patients undergoing elective gynecologic surgery were randomized into three groups with varied preoperative and intraoperative auditory suggestions.
• A standardized anesthetic technique and patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) regimen were used.
• Postoperative morphine use, pain, nausea, anxiety, and hospital stay were recorded; an indirect memory test assessed recall of intraoperative stories.

Main Results:

• No significant differences were found in postoperative morphine use, pain, nausea, anxiety, or hospital stay between groups.
• Implicit memory was demonstrated for the
• Peter Pan
• story presented intraoperatively (p < 0.05).
• No implicit memory was demonstrated for the
• Robinson Crusoe
• story.

Conclusions:

• Intraoperative auditory suggestions did not confirm previous findings regarding improved anesthesia recovery or reduced analgesic requirements.
• A significant implicit memory effect was observed for a story presented intraoperatively, suggesting subconscious information processing during anesthesia.
• Further research is needed to explore the potential of intraoperative auditory stimuli for memory encoding and its clinical implications.