18/06/2026
Playlist for Procedures by Shirish Prabhudesai
Before most procedures, I try to ask patients what they would like to have playing in the background.
My experience in training so far is that, for many procedures performed under local anaesthetic or conscious sedation, the right music can make a real difference for patients who are understandably anxious about the experience.
When patients do not have a particular preference, I often return to a playlist of calming pieces from different periods, ranging from the likes of Sibelius to Paul Mealor.
One contemporary piece I often start with is an instrumental arrangement of “Always with Me” / “Itsumo Nando Demo”, the closing song from Spirited Away, performed by the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra.
I like opening with this piece because it immediately creates a calm and reassuring atmosphere without demanding too much attention.
The arrangement carries the gentle lyricism of the original song into a broader symphonic landscape. Delicate, nostalgic and quietly moving, it has an almost lullaby-like quality, capturing the emotional afterglow of the film: the sense of returning home changed, with memories of a strange and beautiful journey still lingering.
In the setting of an interventional radiology procedure, that tone feels particularly fitting. Music in the room should never dominate the clinical environment, but it can help soften it. This piece has a steadiness and warmth that can ease the transition into the procedure, giving both patient and team a quieter emotional starting point.
For me, it works well as an opening track because it is gentle, familiar to some, unobtrusive to others, and emotionally grounded without being distracting. It helps set the mood I want at the beginning of a case: calm, focused and humane.
Listen to the full playlist here:
Playlist · Heather Offord · 7 items · 4 saves
