A scoping review on the effect of cannabis on pain intensity in people with spinal cord injury

The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, 2022 · DOI: 10.1080/10790268.2020.1865709 · Published: January 1, 2022

Spinal Cord Injury Pharmacology Pain Management

Simple Explanation

Chronic pain is a common issue after spinal cord injury (SCI), and current treatments don't always provide enough relief. This has led to interest in using cannabis as an alternative for pain control. This review looked at existing research on how cannabis affects pain levels in people with SCI to understand what the current evidence says. The review found mixed results in the studies, likely because the studies used different methods and amounts of cannabis.

Study Duration

Not specified

Participants

Six articles covering five treatment studies

Evidence Level

Scoping Review

Key Findings

1
The review identified six articles covering five treatment studies, but the findings were mixed due to variations in methodology.
2
The quality of evidence is currently insufficient to draw firm conclusions about how well cannabis works for SCI-related pain.
3
The review highlights limitations in past studies and suggests guidelines for future research in this area.

Research Summary

This scoping review examined the existing research on the effect of cannabis on pain intensity in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). The review found that the current evidence is insufficient to draw reliable conclusions about the efficacy of cannabis for SCI-related pain, primarily due to methodological weaknesses in the available studies. The authors identified specific limitations of past studies and provided recommendations for future research to improve the quality and reliability of evidence in this area.

Practical Implications

Future Research

Future studies should employ between-subjects designs, intention-to-treat analysis, and report effect sizes and confidence intervals.

Pain Assessment

Future research should include more information on pain type, differentiating between nociceptive and neuropathic pains.

Treatment Design & Safety

Future studies should clearly outline treatment components such as dosing, titration and maintenance, maximum dose, and duration.

Study Limitations

1
The size of the research available is limited.
2
The search was limited to studies available in English.
3
Methodological weaknesses in the existing literature limit the extent to which the data can be analyzed.

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