The Effect of Music Therapy on Pain in Cholecystectomy Patients

Objective: this study was conducted as quasi-experimental with control group in order to determine the effect of music therapy on pain in patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy. methods: the population of the study consisted of patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy operation in the general surgery clinic of gülhane military medical academy between october and december 2013. the sample of the study consisted of 60 patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy operation met the study criteria, and agreed to participate in the study. while the routine procedures were administered to the patients in the control group, the patients in the experimental group listened to music in “tune hüseyni” for 30 minutes with the help of external earphones in addition to the routine procedure. just after the patients listened to music, their pain scores were determined by applying verbal descriptor scale (vds) and visual analogue scale (vas). results: after the procedure, it was determined in the study thataccording to the results of the verbal descriptor scale, a great majority (53.3%) of the patients in the control group described moderate / severe pain; whereas, a great majority of the patients in the experimental group (80.0%) had no or mild pain. moreover, it was found that vas scores of the patients in the control group (2.90±1.2) were significantly lower than vas scores of the patients in the experimental group (4.53±1.6). conclusions: by considering that music therapy is cost-effective, easy and has positive effects in reducing the pain, it is thought that administration of music therapy in the clinics in the post-operative period would reduce the pain perception of the patients.