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Efficacy, tolerability and safety of cannabis‐based medicines for chronic pain management – An overview of systematic reviews
Author(s) -
Häuser W.,
Petzke F.,
Fitzcharles M.A.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
european journal of pain
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.305
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1532-2149
pISSN - 1090-3801
DOI - 10.1002/ejp.1118
Subject(s) - tolerability , cannabis , medicine , chronic pain , systematic review , neuropathic pain , checklist , cancer pain , alternative medicine , medline , adverse effect , randomized controlled trial , cochrane library , psychiatry , pharmacology , psychology , pathology , political science , cognitive psychology , law
Medicinal cannabis has already entered mainstream medicine in some countries. This systematic review ( SR ) aimed at evaluating the efficacy, acceptability and safety of cannabis‐based medicines for chronic pain management. Qualitative systematic review of SRs of randomized controlled trials with cannabis‐based medicines for chronic pain management. The Cochrane databases of SR s, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects and PubMed were searched for SR published in the period January 2009 to January 2017. Assessment of the methodological quality of SR was performed by the AMSTAR checklist. Out of 748 papers identified, 10 SR s met the inclusion criteria. The methodological quality was high in four and moderate in six SR s. There were inconsistent findings of four SR s on the efficacy of cannabis‐based medicines in neuropathic pain and of one SR for painful spasms in multiple sclerosis. There were consistent results that there was insufficient evidence of any cannabis‐based medicine for pain management in patients with rheumatic diseases (three SR s) and in cancer pain (two SR s). Cannabis‐based medicines undoubtedly enrich the possibilities of drug treatment of chronic pain conditions. It remains the responsibility of the health care community to continue to pursue rigorous study of cannabis‐based medicines to provide evidence that meets the standard of 21st century clinical care. Significance We provide an overview of systematic reviews on the efficacy, tolerability and safety of cannabis‐based medicines for chronic pain management. There are inconsistent findings of the efficacy of cannabinoids in neuropathic pain and painful spasms in multiple sclerosis. There are inconsistent results on tolerability and safety of cannabis‐based medicines for any chronic pain.