To measure associations between medical cannabis authorization (MCA) and opioid milligram equivalents (OME) in patients with chronic non-cancer pain.
Key Findings:
Average OME at the final time point was 33.4 mg/day, with a nonsignificant increase over time (p > 0.05).
Average OME was 32.60 mg/day for patients without MCA and 38.51 mg/day for those with MCA, not significantly different (p > 0.05).
Medical cannabis consultation predicted a nonsignificant decrease of 14.25 mg/day OME (p > 0.05).
Long-term opioid use was a significant predictor, with a mean OME of 85.34 mg/day (p < 0.0001).
Interpretation:
MCA was not associated with a statistically significant decrease in OME over time, indicating no clear opioid-sparing effect, while long-term opioid use was linked to higher OME levels.
Limitations:
The study was retrospective and relied on electronic health record data, which may introduce biases.
The sample may not represent all chronic pain patients due to specific inclusion criteria.
Conclusion:
Future prospective research is needed to determine the opioid-sparing effects of cannabis in chronic pain management, particularly focusing on dosage and patient demographics.
by Michelle Sexton, Nicholas C Glodosky, Michael Cleveland, Carrie Cuttler, Euyhyun Lee, Gregory R Polston, Timothy Furnish, Imanuel Lerman, Nathaniel M Schuster, Mark S Wallace
A long-term cohort study found that obesity was not associated with worse patient-reported outcomes or higher reoperation rates following total ankle replacement in optimized surgical candidates.
