Effects of Music Therapy on Perioperative Anxiety and Postoperative Sleep Quality in Patients Undergoing Surgery for Lumbar Disc Herniation.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate music therapy effects on perioperative anxiety and postoperative sleep quality in patients undergoing minimally invasive surgery for lumbar disc herniation (LDH).

METHODS

This retrospective study included patients who underwent percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy or laser disc decompression between January 2020 and January 2025. The patients were divided into music therapy group (n = 108) and routine care group (n = 92) according to the clinical management they received during hospitalisation. The music therapy group received music therapy and standard care, and the routine care group received standard care. The primary outcomes were state-trait anxiety inventory (STAI) and Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI). The secondary outcomes consisted of physiological parameters, stress biomarkers, pain levels, patient satisfaction, complication rate and recovery parameters.

RESULTS

At the 30-minute pre-operation timepoint, the music therapy group showed remarkably smaller increases in anxiety scores compared with the routine care group. At the 3rd day of hospitalisation, the music therapy group demonstrated significantly greater reductions in STAI and PSQI scores compared with the routine care group (both P < 0.05). The visual analogue scale scores for pain level were greatly reduced in the music therapy group (P < 0.05), whereas the patient satisfaction questionnaire-18 scores were higher (P < 0.05). Although the frequencies of individual complications are similar (all P >0.05), there are differences in the overall incidence of complications (P = 0.009).

CONCLUSION

Music therapy represents an effective adjunctive caring method associated with improvements in perioperative anxiety, postoperative sleep quality and recovery outcomes in patients undergoing minimally invasive surgery for LDH. The findings support the integration of music therapy into standard perioperative care protocols to optimise patient experience and clinical outcomes.