Perioperative music therapy with a key-lighting keyboard system in elderly patients undergoing digestive tract surgery

BACKGROUND/AIMS: It is important to minimize the perioperative mental dysfunction of elderly patients undergoing surgery and to avoid lowering their coping skills postoperatively. Music therapy for digestive tract surgery has yet not been explored. METHODOLOGY: We evaluated perioperative music therapy using a simple key‐lighting keyboard system in 37 elderly patients who underwent digestive tract surgery (Group A) compared with 13 patients who were not applied music therapy (Group B). RESULTS: On the first day after surgery there were no general hemodynamic changes after music therapy. There were no significant changes in the Philadelphia Geriatric Center morale scale and the Yesavage depression scale between the day before surgery and 7 POD in both groups. The self‐assessed visual analogue health scale and the number connection test worsened significantly from 58.9+/‐14.6 and 159+/‐47 to 42.3+/‐14.6 and 199+/‐51 (p<0.05), respectively, over this time in Group B, but it did not worsen significantly in Group A. The happiness score increased significantly from 3.9+/‐1.1 to 4.6+/‐1.2 (P<0.05) over this time in Group A, but it did not increase significantly in Group B. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the music therapy with a key‐lighting keyboard system in elderly patients does not change postoperative hemodynamics and helps to maintain perioperative mental functioning.