Music therapy in gastrointestinal endoscopic procedures

Dr. Dan Rudin from Statin Island University Hospital in New York looked at past studies and concluded it’s a “safe and cost-effective measure not to be overlooked.”

First, the details.

• The author re-analyzed the data (meta-analysis) on 641 patients receiving various visual examinations of the GI tract.
• Some received music therapy and others didn’t.

And, the results.

• When used alone for relaxation and pain control, music therapy significantly lowered anxiety levels.
• When combined with drugs there were beneficial effects on analgesic drug and sedation requirements and procedure duration times.

The bottom line?
Sounds good. But the source of this information is a letter to the editor in the World Journal of Gastroenterology. As such, it’s not possible to find more details about the study or the results.

However, in the past 2 months there have been other positive reports with music therapy.

• People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• For end of life care
• During casting of broken bones
• For quality of life in people with HIV
• Recovery from total knee replacement

And of course, my personal favorite: Tooth Tunes.

1/16/08 19:49 JR