Perioperatively by Julia Weis, M.D. Music therapy has been defined as the controlled use of music and its influence on the human being to aid in physiologic, psychologic, and emotional integration of individual during treatment of an illness or disability . A newly emerged field is music medicine, which is defined as therapeutic use of music in medicine as a whole .
Music therapy can be passive or active.
It can range from a patient listening to music preoperatively, intraoperatively, or postoperatively, to a music therapist working with a specific patient population on a regular basis with the patient taking an active part in composing or producing the music. It can be used alone or in conjunction with other techniques, such as guided imagery. Some variables include live versus recorded music, choice of instruments, genre of music, timing of the therapy, patient versus researcher or therapist selection, and volume. Due to the vast amount of information on music therapy in medicine, I will focus on the use of medicine in childbirth, neonatal, and perioperatively.