Preadmission Cannabis Use Is Positively Correlated With Inpatient Opioid Dose Exposure in Hospitalized Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. Issue 4 (22nd May 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Dalal, Rahul S; Palchaudhuri, Sonali; Snider, Christopher K; Lewis, James D; Mehta, Shivan J; Lichtenstein, Gary R
• Is Part Of: Inflammatory bowel diseases. Volume 27:Issue 4(2021)
• Page Start: 500
• Page End: 506
• Publication Date: 2020-05-22
• Subjects: inflammatory bowel disease -- opioids/opiates -- cannabinoids -- Crohn disease -- ulcerative colitis; Inflammatory bowel diseases -- Periodicals; Colitis, Ulcerative -- Periodicals; Crohn Disease -- Periodicals; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases -- Periodicals; 616.344
• DOI: 10.1093/ibd/izaa104
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1078-0998

Abstract

Abstract: Background: Opioid use is associated with excess mortality in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Recent data have highlighted that inpatient opioid exposure is associated with postdischarge opioid use in this population. It is unknown if preadmission use of cannabis, which is commonly used for symptom relief among patients with IBD, increases the risk for inpatient opioid exposure when patients lack access to cannabis for symptom management. We sought to determine the association between preadmission cannabis use and inpatient opioid exposure while adjusting for relevant confounders. Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of adult patients hospitalized for IBD within a large academic health system from March 1, 2017, to April 10, 2018. Opioid exposure was calculated by converting the sum of administered opioid doses to intravenous morphine milligram equivalents and dividing by length of stay. We used multivariable linear regression to assess the association between cannabis use and inpatient opioid exposure while adjusting for confounders including IBD severity and preadmission opioid use. Results: Our study included 423 IBD patients. Linear regression analysis showed a significant positive correlation between inpatient opioid exposure (intravenous morphine milligram equivalents divided by length of stay) and preadmission cannabis use (coefficient = 12.1; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.6-21.5). Other significantly associated variables were first patient-reported pain score (coefficient = 1.3; 95% CI, 0.6-2.0) and preadmission opioid use (coefficient = 22.3; 95% CI, 17.0-27.6). Conclusions: Cannabis use is positively correlated with inpatient opioid exposure after controlling for confounders. A personalized pain management approach should be considered to limit inpatient and possibly future opioid exposure among hospitalized patients with IBD who use cannabis.