Marijuana users might experience more pain after surgery — here’s why

A new study claims marijuana users may feel more pain after surgery. The research was presented Sunday at the American Society of Anesthesiologists annual meeting, where the researchers expanded their findings and reported that marijuana users required more prescription drugs compared to non-users.

The study was conducted using data from more than 34,000 people who underwent surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. Within 30 days of surgery, over 1,700 patients had used marijuana.

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These patients required more medication to stay asleep during their surgery and had different brain waves, vital signs, and breathing patterns compared to non-users.

“We found it wasn’t a huge amount of extra pain compared to non-users, but we can’t say don’t worry because it’s not too much,” said Dr. Elyad Ekrami, the lead researcher on the study. “They needed more opioids to heal their pain, so that’s something that matters.”

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The study showed that marijuana users experienced 14% more pain in the first few hours after surgery. This meant they also used more opioids, about 7% more compared to non-users. Although researchers don’t understand why marijuana affects people’s pain responses, they have a few theories.

Ekrami shared that marijuana is known to affect pain receptors — in the case of heavy users, this means the drug could desensitize them, making them more likely to feel pain and craving opioids. They also believe marijuana users could use the drug to treat anxiety, which could then increase their pain responses.

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Still, not enough evidence is known on the subject, making it difficult for experts to make a recommendation for marijuana users. dr Shalini Shah, chief of pain medicine at the University of California, Irvine, recommends patients be drastically honest with their doctors and share the medications they take before surgery. “Are you really having an open conversation about, ‘Hey, what are my risks? What’s the best evidence? What should I do before the surgery so I can have a healthy recovery?’” she said.

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Although the results have yet to be released, the study makes it even more urgent for researchers to get the necessary approvals that would allow them to fully test the drug and provide users with accurate information.