What Are Surgeons Listening to While You're Under the Knife?

Vice—October 12, 2015

Vice reports that most surgeons listen to music in the operating room in order to create a comfortable environment while they perform surgeries or other procedures. The article also notes that surgeons follow commonly practiced guidelines like keeping music at a reasonable level, respecting co-workers with choice of music, and most importantly, making sure the music is off before the patient regains consciousness.

According to Hospital for Special Surgery's orthopedic surgeon, David S. Levine, "Music allows us to be comfortable and confident. If we're used to listening to music in general, it's nice to listen in the operating room because it doesn’t distract us from focusing - it actually helps feel a familiarity with our surroundings as part of a "zen" nature of being focused and taking care of what we do."

He also notes that, "I would say that when we listen to music in the OR there's a presumption that it adds in some way to the functionality and the experience, it shouldn’t be intrusive. If all of a sudden there's a challenge in the operating room, I've had to say to the anesthesiologist, who is in charge of the music since they’re at the top of the table near patient's head, to turn the music off or to turn it down."

To read the full article, visit noisey.vice.com.