Does listening to music during flexible cystoscopy and bladder biopsy decrease patient’s pain?

Aim: The aim of this study was to demonstrate that listening to music during flexible cystoscopy and cold cup biopsy decreases patient pain.Materials and methods: We analysed 100 patients who underwent flexible cystoscopy plus at least one cold cup biopsy (50 control patients without music and 50 patients with classical music). Before cystoscopy, these patients were tested for urinary analysis and culture, and then they received the same local anaesthesia. Hemodynamic values were also collected for each patient. After the procedure, the visual analog scale (VAS) of 0–10 and the numeric pain intensity scale (NRS) were used to report the patient’s pain during the cystoscopy.Results: Both groups were similar with regards to the reasons for undergoing cystoscopy. Group 1 patients (no music controls) reported higher values of VAS and NRS, compared to patients in Group 2 (classical music; p < 0.001). No significant differences were detected between the two groups regarding hemodynamic parameters.Conclusions: In our experience, music significantly reduced feelings of pain