A retrospective study published in the Asian Spine Journal suggests that patients with a history of cannabis use may require fewer opioids after lumbar fusion surgery.
Conducted by researchers from Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, University of Illinois, Yale School of Medicine, and the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine, the purpose of the study was “To examine the effect of cannabis use history on postoperative opioid utilization in patients undergoing one- to three-level lumbar fusion for degenerative spine disease.”
The study involved reviewing over 153,000 patient records, with 1,216 patients matched into cannabis user and non-user groups using propensity score matching.
“Cannabis users had lower rates of opioid utilization compared to non-cannabis users as early as 2 months after fusion (47.7% vs. 41.1%, p <0.05), a relationship which persisted at 6 months (46.2% vs. 37.7%, p <0.01)”, states the study. “Additionally, cannabis users had lower rates of high-dose opioid utilization (≥100 MME per day) during the initial 14-30 days following surgery (6.91% vs. 3.79%, p <0.05).”
The study concludes:
Patients with a history of cannabis use were less likely to be using opioids as early as 2 months postoperatively and had lower rates of high-dose opioid utilization in the immediate postoperative period. Physicians operating on these patients should consider their cannabis use patterns to provide appropriate titration of pain medication over time.
