一项大型研究综述发现，与不听音乐的患者相比，听音乐的手术患者在恢复期间焦虑程度较低，需要的镇痛药量也较少，即使他们是在全身麻醉状态下依然如此。
Surgical patients who listen to music — even while they are under general anesthesia — have less anxiety and need less pain medication during recovery than those who do not, a large review of studies has found.
这项发表在《柳叶刀》杂志(Lancet)上的分析共计纳入了72项随机对照试验的数据。这些研究涵盖了不同的音乐类型、播放音乐的时机以及播放方式（扬声器还是耳机），涉及从常规结肠镜检查到心内直视手术等各种各样的手术。研究人员记录了患者们的住院时间，用数字评分量表衡量了他们的疼痛程度，并通过自我报告估计了他们的焦虑程度和满意度。
The analysis, in Lancet, includes data from 72 randomized controlled trials. The studies covered various music genres, timing and delivery methods (speakers versus headphones), and procedures ranging from routine colonoscopy to open heart surgery. Researchers recorded length of stay in the hospital, measured pain using numerical rating scales, and estimated anxiety and satisfaction by self-report.
与常规治疗相比，音乐与术后疼痛减少20%，焦虑减少10%以及止痛药使用显著减少相关。它还令患者的满意度略有增加，但对住院时间长短没有影响。
Compared with regular care, music was associated with a 20 percent reduction in postoperative pain, a 10 percent reduction in anxiety and a significant reduction in the use of pain medication. It increased patient satisfaction slightly, but did not affect length of hospital stay.
在术前播放音乐时减轻疼痛的效果最好，在术中播放时效果稍显不足，在术后播放时效果相对最差，但播放时机之间的差异不具备临床意义。
Pain was reduced most when music was played before the operation, slightly less when played during the procedure, and least when played afterward, but the difference in timing was not clinically significant.
“如果你喜欢音乐，觉得它能带给你平静，它可能会大有助益，”该研究的责任作者、《卫生技术评估》杂志(health technology assessment)的审稿人、布鲁内尔大学（Brunel University，位于伦敦）的凯瑟琳·米兹(Catherine Meads)说。“根据这一研究结果，医院可能会建议患者，如果喜欢，可以在手术前听听音乐。”
“If you like music and find it calming, it might help a lot,” said the senior author, Catherine Meads, a reader in health technology assessment at Brunel University in London. “It might be that hospitals would want to tell patients that they can listen to music before the operation.”