Effects of Patient-Preferred Music on Anxiety, Pain, and Quality of Recovery After Knee Arthroplasty Under Spinal Anesthesia: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Study Summary

65 patients undergoing unilateral total knee arthroplasty (TKA) under spinal anaesthesia were analyzed after being randomized to patient-preferred music or standard care without music. The primary outcome of interest was postoperative anxiety measured using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-State (STAI-S). Secondary outcomes included Quality of Recovery-15 (QoR-15), postoperative pain, rescue analgesic requirements, patient satisfaction, and perioperative haemodynamic parameters. Outcomes were assessed preoperatively, 4 to 6 hours postoperatively, and for pain at 1, 4, 12, and 24 hours. Overall, the results revealed that patient-preferred music reduced postoperative anxiety and improved recovery quality, with both effects exceeding their respective minimal clinically important difference thresholds. Music was also associated with lower pain at 12 hours, less rescue analgesia, greater satisfaction, and lower blood pressure at several perioperative time points. These findings suggested that patient-preferred music was a feasible, low-cost addition to improve perioperative recovery during TKA under spinal anaesthesia.