Medicinal cannabis for Australian patients with chronic refractory pain including arthritis

Autor: Elise A Schubert, Masego T Johnstone, Melissa J Benson, Johannes C Alffenaar, Nial J Wheate
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: British Journal of Pain. 17:206-217
ISSN: 2049-4645
2049-4637
DOI: 10.1177/20494637221147115
Popis: Objectives To examine the tolerability and effectiveness of medicinal cannabis prescribed to patients for chronic, refractory pain, with a subset analysis on arthritis. Methods This was an interim analysis of the CA Clinics Observational Study investigating self-reported adverse events (AEs) and changes in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) outcomes over time after commencing medicinal cannabis. Patients were prescribed medicinal cannabis by a medical practitioner, containing various ratios of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and/or cannabidiol (CBD). Results The overall chronic pain cohort, and specifically the balanced CBD:THC products, were associated with significantly reduced pain intensity scores ( p = 0.003, p = 0.025), with 22% of patients reporting a clinically meaningful reduction in pain intensity. Patients in the arthritis subset ( n = 199) reported significantly reduced pain intensity scores ( p = 0.005) overall, and specifically for those taking CBD-only ( p = 0.018) and balanced products ( p = 0.005). Other HRQoL outcomes, including pain interference and pain impact scores were significantly improved depending on the CBD:THC ratio. Products that contained a balanced ratio of CBD:THC were associated with improvements in the most number of PROMIS-29 domains. Approximately half ( n = 364; 51%) of the chronic pain cohort experienced at least one AE, the most common being dry mouth (24%), somnolence (19%) or fatigue (12%). These findings were similar in the arthritis subset. Discussion Medicinal cannabis was observed to improve pain intensity scores and HRQoL outcomes in patients with chronic, refractory pain, providing real-world insights into medicinal cannabis’ therapeutic potential.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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