Listening to AC/DC makes surgeons more accurate and efficient

Virgin Radio

11 Apr 2022, 11:40

How would you feel if your surgeon was absolutely rocking out to AC/DC in the operating theatre ahead of performing a procedure on you? Well, it turns out you should feel pretty happy about it, as a new study has shown that surgeons who listen to AC/DC are more accurate and efficient.

Rock music can have a calming effect and even lower blood pressure, and the research from Heidelberg University in Germany shows that that if a surgeon listens to fast-paced music, it can speed up operations.

Indeed, belting out some classic AC/DC almost doubled surgeons’ speed at certain tasks, and, vitally, it didn’t have a diminishing effect on their exactness.

During trials, those who listened to Highway To Hell and T.N.T. made an incision in 139 seconds, as opposed to taking 236 seconds without the rock accompaniment. They were also five per cent more accurate WITH the music playing!

And it wasn’t just the heavy rock of the celebrated Australian band that sped up surgeons, as The Fab Four’s music also expedited the stitching up of wounds by a massive 50 per cent 

Interestingly though, whilst listening to Hey Jude and Let It Be by The Beatles sped things up, the positive effect was lost if those particular tracks were played too loud.

Writing in Langenbeck’s Archives of Surgery, lead researcher Cui Yang said: “Our results show that both soft rock and hard rock can enhance surgical performance.

“For hard rock music, the positive effect was especially noticeable when the music was played in high volume.

“It is possible that music with high rhythmicity could provide a tempo to keep up the speed of the performance and thus enhance task performance.”

Music is played in approximately two-thirds of operations. Presumably, there will be plenty of AC/DC played in operating theatres following the results of this new study!