The prior use of cannabis “results in a decreased need for blood pressure support during general anesthesia”, finds a study published in the peer-reviewed journal Cannabis and Cannabinoids Research, with the full text of the study published on the website for the National Library of Medicine.
According to researchers, this retrospective study “focuses on the orthopedic trauma population presenting through an emergency department (ED) and receiving a urine drug screen (UDS) with subsequent urgent surgical intervention.” Researchers aimed “to evaluate differences in response to general anesthesia in patients with exposure to THC, a major cannabinoid, compared to controls that screened negative for THC.”
All ED visits at UC Irvine, a level 1 trauma center between November 4, 2017 and January 7, 2020, were evaluated in this study. Only adult patients who received a urine drug screen and underwent urgent orthopedic trauma surgery within 48 h of ED visit were included in this study. Additional inclusion criteria required an anesthesia time greater than 1 h as well as anesthesia induction and intubation while in the operating room. Overall, researchers analyzed a total of 221 adult patients.
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