Song-Loving Surgeon Finds Arcade Fire To Be Effective Anesthetic

Today’s New York Times profiles Dr. Atul Gawande, a well-respected surgeon and author who brings his iPod to the operating room:

On a recent day, when he took out a gallbladder, two thyroids and what was supposed to be a parathyroid gland but maybe wasn’t, the playlist included David Bowie, Arcade Fire, Regina Spektor, Aimee Mann, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, the Decemberists and the Killers.

The music wasn’t turned up high, but it rocked sufficiently that the anesthesiologist bobbed his head, the O.R. nurse tapped her toe, and the member of the team in charge of all the clamps and retractors drummed his fingers on the instrument tray. “It all depends on who’s in the room,” Dr. Gawande said of his selections. “You can’t play anything hard-hitting if there’s anyone over 45.”

Hard to argue with the reporting here: If there’s one thing that rocks merely sufficiently, it’s the new Killers record. But forgive us if we find Dr. Gawande’s methodology disturbing, as we prefer our invasive surgeries to be clean and quiet, without any downbeat Paste-rock songs serving as a distraction; after all, if something were to go wrong, the last thing we’d want to hear before we die is Regina Spektor. Atul Gawande Rocks in the O.R. [NY Times]