Music after heart surgery: lower pain scores and heart rate in a short trial
A randomized trial found differences after a brief listening session, but the abstract does not establish lasting relief or improved recovery.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Adults recovering from cardiac surgery who listened to music had lower pain scores and heart rates at the end of the session than those receiving usual care. This supports a possible immediate benefit in this surgical setting. The abstract does not show how long the differences lasted or whether they affected recovery.
The pain scale and the clinical importance of the differences are not described. Although anxiety, cortisol and immunoglobulin A were measured, their results are not presented in the abstract.
What researchers found
Heart rate at session end
Music versus usual care after 30 minutes; P < .05.
What was compared
Researchers randomly assigned postoperative adults to music or usual care and measured outcomes before and after the study period. The groups had similar measured outcomes before the intervention, helping frame the comparison at its end.
Limits of the reported benefits
Pain and heart rate were the reported positive findings. The conclusions describe music as a safe addition to pain management, but the abstract provides no adverse-event results or evidence about longer-term outcomes.
The original publication
The Impact of Music on Patients After Cardiac Surgery.
Carroll DL, Ait Ali RL, Zamora NH et al.
J Cardiovasc Nurs · 2026
- PubMed ID
- 41329472
- Record checked
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