A newly published study has found that tobacco use is linked to a significantly higher risk of developing surgical site infections (SSIs) after orthopedic surgery, whereas marijuana use does not increase the risk.
Published in Psychological Trauma and conducted by researchers from the University of California San Diego and Loma Linda University Health, the retrospective cohort study investigated whether smoking marijuana raises the likelihood of SSIs following open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) of fractures. The research focused on 4,802 adult patients treated for closed fractures at a Level 1 trauma center in Southern California between January 2009 and December 2021.
The study revealed that 24% of the patients were current marijuana users, while the rest did not use marijuana. During the follow-up period of at least six months, 75 patients (1.6%) developed surgical site infections. Multivariate analysis showed that factors such as longer operative times (OR 1.002), diabetic status (OR 2.084), and current tobacco use (OR 2.493) were all linked to a higher risk of infection. However, marijuana use was not found to be associated with an increased risk of SSI (OR 0.678, P = 0.48).
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Currently 24 states allow legal marijuana possession, with 23 allowing licensed sales (Virginia is the only exception). Of these states, all but Minnesota and Delaware have stores currently open, with those two states expected to have recreational marijuana retail outlets opened next year.
According to data recently released by the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission, the average price per gram of dried marijuana flower sold via licensed marijuana stores is $3.75 per gram. This is considerably lower than the average price of every other legal marijuana state. For example, second on the list of cheapest legal marijuana prices is Massachusetts with an average of $5.06 per gram, a 35% difference.
