Music During Awake Brain Tumor Resection: A Case Series

To the Editor: Awake brain tumor resection is an essential method for treating patients with tumors adjacent to eloquent brain regions, especially those important for language function. Intraoperative cortical and subcortical brain mapping, as well as comprehensive language and neuropsychological assessments, allow and optimize the extent of tumor resection while minimizing the risk of permanent neurological deficits. 1,2 Patients undergoing awake brain tumor resection often experience anxiety, which can increase sympathetic nervous activity and affect anesthetic efficacy, wound healing, and the recovery process. 3-5 Thus, reducing stress during surgery is critical to improving patient outcomes. Music therapy is a nonpharmacological intervention that has shown promise in reducing stress in a variety of medical settings. 6,7 This prompted us to investigate whether exposure to patientpreferred music could be beneficial in reducing stress in awake patients undergoing tumor resection. To investigate the potential benefits of intraoperative music as a stress-reduction strategy, a prospective case series was conducted in 10 patients undergoing awake resection of glioma at the