Effect of Music on Emergence Delirium

Overview

The researchers are conducting a research study to see whether listening to music during an operation will have a positive effect on the way that children wake up from surgery/anaesthetic. It is a common phenomenon where children wake up unhappy, irritated and screaming (known as emergence delirium). Research have shown that music decreases anxiety and pain. The researchers want to see whether music can also influence a child's behaviour after emerging from anaesthesia. In other words whether they will be more calm and cooperative after listening to music while they are asleep during surgery. Should music have a positive effect, anaesthesiologists may use it in future to improve care of patients coming for surgery.

Children coming for certain elective surgeries, where pain has been excluded as a confounding factor, will have headphones placed on their ears after induction of anaesthesia. They will be randomised to two groups, one will receive music and the other just silence. The headphones will be removed just before waking the patient up. In the recovery room the child's behaviour will be observed and will be scored according to a validated score. The two groups will then be compared to see whether music makes a difference to the behaviour after anaesthesia.

Conditions