Are Cannabinoids Effective in Treating Non-Malignant Chronic Pain in Adult Patients

Abstract

A large component of anesthetic practice incorporates pain management, and a growing contingency of patients whom anesthesia providers encounter each day have chronic pain. Multimodal pain regiments and their use in the management of chronic pain in adults have increased as a result. One alternative that has shown potential for pain management is cannabinoids, which work through the endocannabinoid system (ECS). With the legalization of medicinal marijuana in Florida, an increased knowledge base is needed to better drive care. A literature search of CINAHL, PubMed, Cochrane Databases, MEDLINE, and Google Scholar was done to discover the current knowledge of cannabinoids in treating chronic, non-malignant pain. There have been mixed results as to the efficacy of cannabinoids in this population, but they are well tolerated with rare serious adverse effects. A 30-minute presentation was created to better familiarize the master’s level Nurse Anesthesia Program’s students enrolled at AdventHealth University (AHU) with the current findings. A ten-question evaluation was conducted before and after the PowerPoint presentation. The results were analyzed using a paired sample t-test with a predetermined significance level of p<.05 using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The pre-test mean was 26.19% and post-test was 55.24%. With a pvalue < 0.001, statistical significance was achieved, demonstrating the efficacy of the educational module in expanding the knowledge base of current AHU student nurse anesthetists regarding the use of cannabinoids in the treatment of chronic, non-malignant pain.

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Keywords

Cannabinoids, Chronic Pain

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