Postoperative nausea and vomiting are frequent complications for surgical patients. Researchers have long suspected that environmental factors play a role, and a new report highlights the sounds heard in the operating room. Even patients under general anaesthetic may be affected by auditory input, according to New Scientist.
In the study, some patients wore noise-cancelling headphones while on the operating table. The results showed that these patients were less likely to experience nausea or vomiting after surgery than those without headphones. The exact mechanism is not fully explained, but the link suggests that blocking operating-room noise could have a protective effect.
The report is based on a single study, and as with any single finding, the effect may not hold in all settings. Still, the intervention is simple and low-cost. If the results are replicated, noise-cancelling headphones could become an easy addition to standard surgical care.