Listening to Music to Improve Laparoscopic Learning Performance? Great but Which One?

Excerpt

One of the most obvious distractions in the operating theatre is acoustic distractions, as it can cause a deterioration in the ability to communicate. The resulting high stress levels in the operating theatre negatively affect surgical performance, team performance and patient outcome. Since 1993, several studies have described the beneficial effects of music on spatial task performance, coined the Mozart effect [1]. Anxiolytic, analgesic and stress-reductive effects of music during surgery have been described [2]. While experienced surgeons are able to reduce the acoustic perception of their surroundings to maintain a high level of performance, novice surgeons may suffer more dramatically from noise exposure. …