Tuesday 22 May, 2001
Pain Relief Pictures
Medical researchers in the United States say they've found that the sounds and sights of nature can help to control pain when patients go through unpleasant procedures. They used recordings of gurgling streams and pictures of lush meadows to distract the patients during and after treatment. BBC Science reports.
Surgery Research
Lung bronchoscopy is an unpleasant procedure in which a tube is pushed into the nose or mouth; down through the windpipe and into the lung, so that it can be inspected for signs of disease. Whilst patients receive some medication to prevent pain, they remain conscious throughout the procedure.
Investigating the possibilities of natural pain relief, researchers at Johns Hopkins University played the sounds of gurgling streams to patients during the 25 minute treatment, and through the three-hour recovery period - as well as giving them conventional therapy for pain.
The researchers also displayed large cloth murals of a lush meadow with a river running through it and mountains in the distance. Compared to another group of 39 similar patients, who had only the usual painkillers, the trial group were much more likely to report very good or excellent control of their pain.
Dr Noah Lechtzin, a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University, recently presented the findings at the American Thoracic Society’s annual meeting. He commented:
| ‘Natural sounds and images, if they’re the right ones in the right format, are a safe, inexpensive, effective way to reduce the pain and anxiety of inserting tubes through the nose or mouth to see the lungs.’ | |
Pain Rating
Following the procedure, both groups were asked to fill out a questionnaire rating their pain, anxiety, perceptions of privacy, difficulty in breathing, safety and willingness to have the operation again on a five point scale. Author of the study, Dr Gregory Diette, summarised the results when he said:
‘What stood out was pain control. Patients who listened to the nature sounds and looked at the mural during the bronchoscopy were 43% more likely to report pain control as very good or excellent, even after controlling such factors as pain medication, health, race and education.’
Whilst the study demonstrated the potential of so-called biophilic images and sounds, the researchers stress that natural sights and sounds are not a substitute for ordinary pain relief, but a potentially useful addition.
However, encouraged by the results the Hopkins group next plains to test the distractions on bone marrow transplant patients who often have lengthy hospital visits and considerable pain.
Natural Investment
Others have studied the effects of music on bronchoscopy experience with mixed results, leading the scientists to conclude that they are the first to study a particular combination of images and sound.
The benefits of combining distraction techniques are already recognised and are widely used in some areas of treatment. For example, many women use breathing and visualisation techniques to distract them from the pain of labour, whilst meditation methods are widely recognised when coping with anxiety and stress.
Earlier research has also found that planting trees around hospitals, within sight of patients' windows, significantly speeds up recovery rates.
Despite pressures on hospital budgets to cover the cost of medical staff and high-tech equipment, such studies suggest that investing in very simple environmental improvements could produce measurable benefits.
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| What Is A Bronchoscopy? |
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Bronchoscopies are carried out on people with known or expected lung disease and to identify a cause of infection for pneumonia.
A fibre optic camera, about the diameter of a pencil, is inserted through the nose or the mouth so that doctors can examine the lungs and throat and collect lung secretions or tissue specimens.
Doctors often use bronchoscopies when identifying the third commonest cause of death in the UK, lung cancer. By examining the degree to which the cancer has spread doctors are then able to determine the best treatment.
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