Boy has surgery as piano played next to operating table

A 10-year-old boy underwent surgery in Italy on Monday (November 16) not with the beeping sounds of machines all around him but with the sound of "healing" music being played on a piano next to him.

Head of the Neurosurgery department, Doctor Roberto Trignani led a a team at the Salesi hospital in Ancona, that removed a double tumour in the spinal chord of the child. As the operation was underway molecular biologist Emiliano Toso played music on a grand piano in the operating theatre, at a particular frequency recognised to have a therapeutic affect on the body.

The team watched electrical activity in the brain through monitors during the four hour operation and said they could see a change in activity as the music was interrupted, leading them to believe the music was perceived by the patient.

Doctors say the patient is currently doing well but further tests are needed to see if another operation is required.

(Production: Antonio Denti, Eleanor Biles)