Patients getting surgery may need higher levels of anesthesia if they are regular marijuana users, a new study suggests.
After reviewing the medical records of 250 Colorado patients who got colonoscopies and other endoscopic procedures, researchers determined that regularthan those who didn't use cannabis, according to the study published in the Annals of the American Osteopathic Association. In fact, marijuana users needed more than twice the amount of propofol, a powerful anesthetic, compared to others, the researchers found.
“Although marijuana use has been legalized for recreational and medical use in many states, it’s been a very poorly studied substance,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Mark Twardowski, a specialist in internal medicine who is in private practice in Colorado. “So we can’t say it doesn’t have an effect on other medications and substances that patients might be using.
“Usually you know you need more if the patient tells you they’re feeling uncomfortable or you notice them starting to grimace or start shifting around on the table,” he explained.Twardowski got the idea for his study after noticing that marijuana users seemed to require higher levels of sedation, he said.
Out of the 250 patients examined in the study, 25 were regular cannabis users. When the researchers compared the records of the 25 to those from non-users they found increased levels of all three sedatives had been needed to achieve the right level of anesthesia. Compared to non-users, regular marijuana users required:
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