TDNet Discover

Large portions of the population face unrelenting chronic pain. Current standard of care in the treatment of chronic pain includes prescription opioids. Due to increasing backlash for overprescribing in the opioid drug class, a contributing factor to the national opioid crisis, many are seeking alternative therapeutic agents in the management of chronic pain. One such alternative is medicinal cannabis. This research seeks to identify the efficacy of cannabis regarding chronic pain in comparison to conventional chronic pain medications and placebo through a qualitative full-systematic review of current literature. The scholarly databases UpToDate, PubMed, Medline and Google scholar were used in the literature search. Search terms included cannabis, chronic pain, marijuana, THC, CBD and placebo. Six peer-reviewed articles were selected for in-depth analysis and inclusion. Results of the analysis presented mixed results. Specifically, two studies found cannabis to be an acceptable replacement for opioids in the management of chronic pain and favorable results utilizing the cannabinoid medicine nabilone in managing spinal pain and rheumatic pain. Other studies did not find a significant difference between cannabis and placebo in chronic pain management. However, due to quality issues and study limitations, most of the studies were inconclusive on the effect cannabis has on chronic pain control. Conclusions from this analysis reveal that there is a lack of quality evidence to support or oppose the use of medical cannabis in the treatment of chronic pain. It is recommended that further studies with more participants are conducted to achieve a definitive answer.