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Papers: 3 Sep 2022 - 9 Sep 2022


2022 Sep 02


Pain Pract

Healthcare professionals’ perspectives on the use of medicinal cannabis to manage chronic pain: a systematic search and narrative review.

Authors

Abstract

Chronic pain is a global public health problem that negatively impacts individuals' quality of life and imposes a substantial economic burden on societies. The use of medicinal cannabis (MC) is often considered by patients to help manage chronic pain as an alternative or supplement to more conventional treatments, given enabling legalisation in a number of countries. However, healthcare professionals involved in providing guidance for patients related to MC are often doing so in the absence of strong evidence and clinical guidelines. Therefore, it is crucial to understand their perspectives regarding the clinical use and relevance of MC for chronic pain. As little is known about attitudes of HCPs with regard to MC use for chronic pain specifically, the aim of this review was to identify and synthesise the published evidence on this topic.