New Delhi: Wearing noise-cancelling headphones during minimally invasive gynaecological surgery can lower the risk of post-operative nausea and vomiting (PONV), a recent clinical trial has found. The findings were presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2026 annual meeting held between October 16 and 20.
While anaesthetic and pain medications are well-known contributors to PONV, researchers say noise in the operating room may also be a lesser-known factor.
A common and unpleasant side effect after surgery, PONV can lead to dehydration, delayed recovery, increased medication use and longer stays in the recovery room.
These symptoms are common in patients undergoing minimally invasive gynaecological surgery under general anaesthesia, even when they receive medication to prevent them.
Noise in the operating room
The trial involved 192 adults aged 18 to 65, all of whom underwent surgery under general anaesthesia. They were randomly assigned to one of two groups.
One group wore over-the-head noise-cancelling headphones from the start of anaesthesia until the surgery ended, while the other did not. All patients received the same general anaesthesia and medication to prevent PONV.
Within 48 hours of surgery, 35.4 per cent of patients who wore headphones experienced PONV, compared with 52.1 per cent of those who did not. Patients wearing headphones therefore had a 32 per cent lower relative risk of nausea and vomiting.
This translates to about 17 fewer cases of PONV for every 100 patients who wore headphones. Patients in the headphone group also experienced less severe PONV within the first 24 hours after surgery.
No adverse side effects were reported among those who wore headphones.
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Sound processing under anaesthesia
The operating room had an average sound level of about 66 decibels, somewhere between the sound of a normal conversation and that of a nearby vacuum cleaner.
Researchers noted that while patients under anaesthesia may not be consciously aware of these sounds, their bodies may still process them.
“Our findings suggest that simply reducing intraoperative noise could give anesthesiologists another tool to help prevent PONV after surgery, without adding another medication,” said Huayue Liu, MD, lead author of the study and an anesthesiologist at the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University in Suzhou, China.
“Future studies should measure the amount of noise patients are exposed to during surgery and how their brains and bodies respond to better understand whether and how sound may affect PONV,” Liu added.
(Edited by Maryam Hassan)