Health · Medical Research · 3 hrs ago
Noise-blocking ear defenders linked to less nausea after surgery
A trial found fewer patients felt sick after surgery when they wore noise-blocking ear defenders during the procedure.
The study involved 192 patients having keyhole gynaecological surgery under general anaesthesia at a hospital in Suzhou, China.
All patients received standard anaesthesia and medicine to prevent nausea, while half were randomly assigned ear defenders from the start of anaesthesia until the operation ended.
Within 48 hours, 35 per cent of patients with ear defenders had nausea or vomiting, compared with 52 per cent of those without them.
Symptoms were also less severe among patients whose hearing was protected.
The researchers did not test how the ear defenders might work, but suggest that sound may affect the nervous system even when someone is unconscious.
A larger trial at multiple sites is planned to study noise exposure and nervous system activity during anaesthesia.
A study found that patients who wore noise-blocking ear defenders during surgery were less likely to experience nausea or vomiting afterward.
The trial included 192 patients having keyhole gynaecological surgery under general anaesthesia.
Within 48 hours, 35 per cent of patients who wore ear defenders had nausea or vomiting, compared with 52 per cent of those who did not.
All patients received standard anaesthesia and anti-nausea medication.
The researchers said the possible mechanism is unclear and that a stress-response explanation remains a hypothesis.
- Who
- Huayue Liu and colleagues studied 192 patients undergoing surgery.
- What
- The study found fewer patients experienced nausea or vomiting after wearing noise-blocking ear defenders during surgery.
- When
- Results were presented at the Anesthesiology 2026 annual meeting.
- Where
- Patients had keyhole gynaecological surgery; the study was presented in San Diego.
- Why
- Researchers investigated whether blocking operating-room noise could reduce postoperative nausea and vomiting. The mechanism is not established.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Researchers randomly assigned half of the 192 patients to wear noise-blocking ear defenders from the start of anaesthesia until the end of surgery.
Nausea or vomiting was reported by 35 per cent of patients who wore ear defenders and 52 per cent of those who did not.
The trial findings were presented in San Diego.
- Participants
- 192 patients
- Surgery
- Keyhole gynaecological surgery under general anaesthesia
- Ear defenders group
- 35 per cent experienced nausea or vomiting within 48 hours
- No ear defenders group
- 52 per cent experienced nausea or vomiting within 48 hours
- Operating-room noise
- Average 66 decibels during the study
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What people are saying
That data is really encouraging and is actually in line with decades of research showing that anaesthesia is not simply an off switch
The biological plausibility is that general anaesthesia produces unconsciousness without necessarily eliminating all neural processing of sound