Today I had a very nice gentleman in my office to talk about composing some surgery music. Little did I know that he had a very personal interest in the process. After talking for nearly an hour, he revealed that he had undergone surgery not that long ago for a torn knee meniscus.   He said that the surgeon was using a regional block and that he had been given something to make him drowsy and unaware.  Apparently, at some point he “came to” and unexpectedly saw his knee surgery in process. At that point, he passed out again from the shock of what he saw.

Now nobody wants to wake up in the midst of surgery, but anesthesia administration is a tricky matter and everyone’s requirements are a little different.  Anesthesiologists strive to give the least amount of anesthesia to get the job done, but it’s not a perfect art or science and occasionally people do wake up unexpectedly.

How can music help?  When the right kind of music is also being administed through cordless headphones, the patient typically remains more relaxed and needs less anesthesia to stay that way.  If you’re having surgery of any kind, please check out what the doctors, medical journals, media and other patients have to say! http://www.surgicalheadphones.com.