Crossover clinical trial of pain relief in cataract surgery

PURPOSE: To determine the effects of intra-operative Korean traditional music on pain experienced by Korean patients undergoing sequential bilateral cataract surgery. METHODS: This was a two-sequence, two-period, and two-treatment crossover study. Fifty-two patients with cataracts were divided into two groups by block randomization, and bilateral cataract surgery was performed. In group 1, patients listened to Korean traditional music (KTM) during their first but not second cataract surgery. This sequence was reversed for patients in group 2. After each surgery, patients scored their pain intensity (PI) using a visual analog scale (VAS) ranging from 0 to 10, where 0 was ‘no pain’ and 10 was ‘unbearable pain.’ RESULT: There was a statistically significant reduction in the mean VAS score with KTM (3.1 ± 2.0) compared to that without KTM (4.1 ± 2.2; p = 0.013). However, there were no statistically significant differences in blood pressure or pulse rates. CONCLUSION: KTM had a significant effect on reducing pain experienced by patients during cataract surgery. This may be useful in the context of other surgical procedures to reduce pain in Korean patients.