Medical Cannabis: A Review from the American Society of Pain and Neuroscience

Authors

Natalie Strand, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, AZ, USA.
Ryan S. D'Souza, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
Jay Karri, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
Hemant Kalia, Rochester Regional HealthFollow
Jackie Weisbein, Napa Valley Orthopaedic, Napa, CA, USA.
Brian J. Kassa, Resident in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Wayne State University School of Medicine at the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan, Detroit, MI, USA.
Nasir Hussain, Department of Anesthesiology, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, USA.
Ahish Chitneni, Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, New York-Presbyterian, New York, NY, USA.
Ryan R. Budwany, Resident in the Department of Anesthesiology, West Virginia University, Charleston, WV, USA.
Jonathan Hagedorn, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
Jason E. Pope, Interventional Pain Management, Evolve Restorative Center, Santa Rosa, CA, USA.
Timothy R. Deer, Department of Anesthesiology, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, WV, USA.
Dawood Sayed, Department of Anesthesiology, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA.
Alaa Abd-Elsayed, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA.

Department

Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Journal of Pain Research

Abstract

Cannabinoids have recently gained a renewed interest due to their potential applicability to various medical conditions, specifically the management of chronic pain conditions. Unlike many other medications, medical cannabis is not associated with serious adverse events, and no overdose deaths have been reported. However, both safety and efficacy data for medical cannabis treatment of chronic, nonmalignant pain conditions are lacking. Therefore, representatives from the American Society of Pain and Neuroscience summarize the evidence, according to level and grade, for medical cannabis treatment of several different pain conditions. Treatment of cancer-related pain has prospective evidentiary support for the use of medical cannabis. Although 3 large and well-designed randomized controlled trials investigated cannabis treatment of cancer-related pain, the evidence yielded only a grade D recommendation. Neuropathic pain has been investigated in prospective studies, but a lack of high-quality evidence renders cannabis treatment for this indication a grade C recommendation. Both safety and efficacy data are lacking for use of medical cannabis to treat chronic nonmalignant pain conditions.

First Page

4217

Last Page

4228

DOI

10.2147/JPR.S425862

Volume

16

Publication Date

12-1-2023

PubMed ID

38094100

Recommended Citation

Strand, N., D'Souza, R. S., Karri, J., Kalia, H., Weisbein, J., Kassa, B. J., Hussain, N., Chitneni, A., Budwany, R. R., Hagedorn, J., Pope, J. E., Deer, T. R., Sayed, D., & Abd-Elsayed, A. (2023). Medical Cannabis: A Review from the American Society of Pain and Neuroscience. Journal of Pain Research, 16, 4217-4228. https://doi.org/10.2147/JPR.S425862