Cannabis users need twice as much anesthesia for medical procedures

Many people choose to use cannabis for medical purposes, but new research has shown that this may be inconvenient because cannabis users needed much more anesthesia than non-users.

Potential consequences of regular cannabis use

Scientists have discovered that cannabis users need more than twice as much sedation during medical procedures.

More specifically, the study published in the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association reveals that patients who smoke or ingest cannabis daily or weekly need 14% more fentanyl, 20% more midazolam and 220% more propofol for optimal sedation, even during routine procedures .

To obtain their results, the team badyzed the medical records and data of 250 patients who underwent an endoscopic procedure after the legalization of cannabis for recreational purposes in 2012. Comparing the data of users and non-users of cannabis. cannabis, researchers have badociated the use of cannabis with a greater amount of cannabis. medications needed for sedation.

Unfortunately, some sedatives may be harmful to higher dose patients.

"Some sedative medications have dose-related side effects, which means that the higher the dose, the greater the risk of problems," says Dr. Mark Twardowski, Principal Investigator and Osteopathic Internal Medicine Physician, in Science Daily. . "It becomes especially dangerous when the suppression of the respiratory function is a known side effect."

Scientists believe that it is important to continue to study cannabis

Twardowski worries about unexpected problems with cannabis use, particularly as a result of his widespread legalization and lack of drug research.

"Cannabis has metabolic effects that we do not understand and patients should know that their use of cannabis could affect the effectiveness of certain medications," Twardowski said. "We observe problematic trends anecdotally, and there is virtually no formal data to give a sense of scale or to suggest evidence-based protocols."

Anecdotal trends include a higher number of patients with chronic nausea, a common symptom of regular cannabis use, according to Twardowski. There have also been more patients requiring higher anesthetic doses as well as higher rates of postoperative convulsions.

In the United States, cannabis use increased by 43% between 2007 and 2015. During this period, approximately 13.5% of the adult population used cannabis.

While the unintended consequences of cannabis use are of concern to some medical experts, the legalization of marijuana for medical and recreational purposes offers a valuable opportunity to collect more meaningful and accurate data. As it is legal in a growing number of states and countries, more and more people are agreeing to consume cannabis.

The same team is already preparing a follow-up study on the different requirements for sedation and anesthesia and post-procedure pain management for users and non-users of cannabis.

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