Marijuana May Be Beneficial for Pain Management in Orthopedic Patients

Shared from healio.com.

A survey about marijuana use among orthopedic patients showed many of them believe marijuana is beneficial for managing pain and other conditions.

Geoffrey S. Marecek, MD, and colleagues collected patient demographics and frequency, methods and reasons for marijuana use for 275 patients undergoing orthopedic surgery, categorizing them as marijuana users if they used marijuana in the past year.

Geoffrey S. Marecek

Results showed 34% of patients endorsed marijuana use in the past year and 55% of patients who used marijuana endorsed marijuana use daily or weekly.

The most common means of marijuana use reported was smoking (90%), followed by edible products (35%) and vaporizing (24%). The most commonly cited reasons for marijuana use were pain management (54%) and recreation (52%). If a physician said marijuana use would adversely affect their surgery, 86% of patients who used marijuana reported they would stop using it.

Marecek told Orthopedics Today, “Some components of marijuana may help with fracture healing, but recent studies have suggested higher rates of venous thromboembolism with marijuana use. It is incumbent on us to study this and counsel our patients appropriately, because they say they will listen.”

Reference: Carney JJ, et al. Orthopedics. 2020; doi:10.3928/01477447-20191212-07.