Characteristics, outcomes and conclusions of controlled studies
| Study type; study | Characteristic | Pain outcomes and conclusions* | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drug | Dose | Route of administration | Frequency of administration | Population | Control | Duration | ||
| Randomized controlled trials | ||||||||
| Beaulieu 2006 (34) | Nablione | 1 mg, 2 mg | Oral capsule | Every 8 h | 41 major surgery patients (18 orthopedic) using a PCA device | Ketoprofen, placebo | 24 h | NRS (−) |
| Blake et al. 2006 (13) | Nabiximols | Mean 14.6 mg THC and 13.5 mg CBD | Oral spray | Daily | 58 patients with rheumatoid arthritis with pain not adequately controlled by medication | Placebo | 5 wk | NRS, McGill pain (+) |
| Frank et al. 2008 (35) | Nabilone | 250 μg escalating to 2 mg | Oral capsule | Daily | 96 patients with chronic neuropathic pain (25 orthopedic) | Dihydrocodeine crossover | 14 wk | VAS (−) |
| Kantor and Hopper 1981 (50)† | Levonantradol | 1.5–3.0 mg | Oral capsule | Once | 81 postsurgical patients | Placebo | Unclear | SPID (+) |
| 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg, 1.0 mg | Intramuscular | |||||||
| Levin et al. 2017 (24) | Nabilone | 0.5 mg | Oral capsule | Once | 340 postsurgical patients (47 orthopedic) at risk for nausea and vomiting | Placebo | 300 min | NRS (=) |
| Nonrandomized interventional study | ||||||||
| Holdcroft et al. 2006 (29) | Cannabis extract | 5 mg, 10 mg, 15 mg | Oral capsule | Once | 65 postsurgical patients (23 orthopedic) | Low compared with medium and high doses | 6 h | Rescue analgesia, VRS (+) (higher doses better than lower doses) |
CBD = cannabidiol; NR = not reported; NRS = numeric rating scale; PCA = patient-controlled analgesia; SPID = sum of pain intensity difference; THC= tetrahydrocannabinol; VAS = visual analogue scale; VRS = verbal rating scale.
↵* (+) = cannabis performed significantly better than comparator for pain outcomes; (=) = no difference for pain outcomes; (−) = cannabis performed worse than comparator for pain outcomes.
↵† Abstract only.