Screen All Patients for Cannabis Use Before Surgery: Guideline

1. All patients who undergo procedures that require regional or general anesthesia should be asked if, how often, and in what forms they use the drug, according to recommendations from the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA).
2. One reason: Patients who regularly use cannabis may experience worse pain and nausea after surgery and may require more opioid analgesia, the group said.
3. Kenneth Finn, MD, president of the American Board of Pain Medicine, welcomed the publication of the new guidelines. Finn, who practices at Springs Rehabilitation in Colorado Springs, Colorado, has edited a textbook about cannabis in medicine and founded the International Academy on the Science and Impact of Cannabis.
4. "The vast majority of medical providers really have no idea about cannabis and what its impacts are on the human body," Finn said.

Click here for medscape guidelines.