Study Finds Medical Cannabis Linked to Long-Term Improvements in Hypermobility-Related Chronic Pain
- Cannabis-based medicinal products were linked to sustained improvements in pain, anxiety, and sleep among patients with hypermobility spectrum disorders and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome over a 24-month period.
- Significant clinical improvements were reported by over half of the participants in multiple pain measures, including pain severity, pain interference, and pain scales such as the Visual Analogue Scale and Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire-2.
- The study observed reductions in opioid prescriptions, suggesting cannabis-based products may serve as an opioid-sparing option for chronic pain management, though gabapentinoid use remained unchanged.
- Adverse events occurred in 25% of participants, mostly mild or moderate, with older patients more likely to experience side effects; however, the observational nature of the study limits causal conclusions and highlights the need for randomized controlled trials.
A new study published in Clinical Rheumatology found that cannabis-based medicinal products were associated with sustained improvements in pain, anxiety and sleep among patients with hypermobility-associated chronic pain.
Researchers from Imperial College London analyzed data from 240 patients enrolled in the UK Medical Cannabis Registry who were prescribed cannabis-based medicinal products for hypermobility spectrum disorders or Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Patient outcomes were tracked over 24 months using several measures, including pain severity, pain interference, anxiety, sleep quality and overall health-related quality of life.
According to the study, improvements were observed across all patient-reported outcome measures, with statistically significant changes reported over time. By 24 months, 56.67% of participants reported clinically significant improvements in pain severity, while 61.25% reported clinically significant improvements in pain interference. Clinically meaningful improvements were also reported by 60% of participants on the Pain Visual Analogue Scale and 47.08% on the Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire-2.
The study also found reductions in concomitant opioid prescriptions at 12, 18 and 24 months, suggesting cannabis-based medicinal products may have potential as part of opioid-sparing treatment strategies for chronic pain. Gabapentinoid use, however, did not significantly change over the study period.
Adverse events were reported by 25% of participants, with headaches, fatigue and lethargy among the most common. Most adverse events were classified as mild or moderate, though 15.88% were considered severe and two were considered life-threatening. Researchers noted that patients over the age of 50 had greater odds of experiencing adverse events.
The authors said the findings represent the largest and longest observational study to date examining medical cannabis therapy specifically for hypermobility spectrum disorders and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. However, they emphasized that the study was observational and did not include a placebo or control group, meaning it cannot prove that cannabis-based medicinal products directly caused the improvements.
Researchers concluded that the findings support the need for randomized controlled trials to better determine the safety and effectiveness of cannabis-based medicinal products for hypermobility-associated chronic pain.