# Intraoperative Music During General Anaesthesia in Dogs Undergoing Elective Ovariohysterectomy: A Prospective, Double-Blinded Randomized Exploratory Study

## TL;DR

This study explores whether playing music during surgery affects anesthesia and recovery in dogs, but found no significant effects.

## Contribution

The study is one of the first to investigate music's impact on anesthesia in veterinary surgery, highlighting a gap in current research.

## Key findings

- Intraoperative music had no measurable effect on anesthetic or analgesic parameters in dogs.
- No significant differences were observed in heart rate, respiratory rate, or recovery quality between music and control groups.
- The study suggests larger trials may be needed to explore music's potential in more complex surgical scenarios.

## Abstract

Music has been increasingly explored as a supplementary tool in human medicine to improve postoperative outcomes in various surgical procedures. In veterinary medicine, the use of music as a perioperative intervention remains relatively under-investigated. Our work aims to explore whether the incorporation of music during the intraoperative period influences anaesthetic and analgesic parameters in 28 healthy dogs undergoing ovariohysterectomy under general anaesthesia. The dogs were divided into two groups of 14, and each group was exposed intraoperatively to either classical music or silence. All dogs received a standardized anaesthetic protocol. We observed that music had no apparent effect on any of the parameters evaluated. Further investigation of music as a supportive tool during the perioperative period may help clarify its potential clinical and welfare relevance in companion animals.

Music is considered a non-pharmacological adjunct in human anaesthesia, contributing to anaesthetic- and analgesic-sparing effects, modulating autonomic responses, and enhancing recovery. However, its effects in veterinary surgical settings remain largely unexplored. This study aimed to explore the potential influence of intraoperative music on anaesthetic and analgesic requirements, autonomic parameters, intraoperative adverse effects, and recovery quality in dogs undergoing elective ovariohysterectomy under general anaesthesia. In this prospective, randomized exploratory study, client-owned female dogs (n = 28) were randomly assigned to either a music group (exposed to instrumental classical music intraoperatively) or a control group (no music). All dogs received a standardized anaesthetic protocol. Mean end-tidal isoflurane concentrations, intraoperative analgesic requirements, heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, adverse effects, and recovery quality were recorded and compared between groups using unpaired t-test, Mann–Whitney U test, or Fisher’s exact test, as appropriate (p < 0.05). No statistically significant differences were observed. Therefore, intraoperative music did not produce measurable effects on the assessed parameters. While no apparent benefit was observed in this study, future studies with larger sample sizes should investigate music-based interventions in more challenging or variable clinical scenarios. Additionally, further research is needed to clarify the extent to which anaesthetics suppress auditory processing. This exploratory investigation contributes to the limited body of evidence on auditory stimulation in veterinary anaesthesia.