Volume 184 - Issue 5
The MP3 surgeon and the opera fan
Author: Charles Teo
Med J Aust 2006; 184 (5): 255-256. || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2006.tb00226.x
Published online: 6 March 2006
Published online: 6 March 2006
Comment: Ask most surgeons about their operating theatres, and they will describe them as havens from the stresses and pressures of a busy clinical practice. The theatre protects them from the interruptions of telephone calls, the demands of patients and their relatives, and the politics of medicine. It is a microcosm where a surgeon may rule autocratically. Within reason, most theatre personnel would gladly accommodate any means that might diminish the stress or enhance the smooth running of an operation. Techniques such as dimming the lights, decreasing human traffic, eating lollies and playing music are common practices in operating theatres.
As a surgeon, I find background music essential during surgery. It masks the chatter of the scout nurse, the telephone conversation of the anaesthetist, and the beeping of the diathermy machine and the electrocardiograph monitor. Without the pleasant background sound of ABBA or the love songs of Elvis, my stress levels would be compounded by every other audible distraction.
The question of whether surgeons should be able to use whatever means necessary to achieve the best outcome, even if the anaesthetic and nursing staff perceive it as inappropriate, could only be answered with a prospective study using patients’ clinical outcomes as the end-point. With so many variables, a study of this nature would be impossible.
Personally, I have no objection to the scenario in Riley’s second case if the surgeon can maintain adequate communication with the scrub nurse. However, I cannot accept that a person would not be distracted by watching a video while operating. Even if the surgeon was simply listening to the music, the video playing on the monitor would be a distraction to other theatre personnel. I agree with Riley that we must continually re-evaluate technology in the workplace. Patient care is paramount, and, unless audiovisual technology is helping us achieve this end, we would be wise to return to simpler times.