Cannabis consumers need more anesthetic
How much alcohol do you drink? Do You Smoke? You consume more drugs? When Doctors ask such questions, it can be patients uncomfortable. Nevertheless, you should sugarcoat anything, and not necessarily honest answers. Because drug use can affect the required dosage of anaesthetic agents considerably.
Anyone who smokes regularly, Cannabis has a much higher need for General Anesthesia, report US researchers in the journal “The Journal of The American Osteopathic Association”. In the case of the anesthetic Propofol in a regular Cannabis can be consumers more than three times the dose is needed.
“Cannabis has several metabolic effects, we don’t understand,” says study leader Mark Twardowski of the Western Medical Associates in Grand Junction in the U.S. state of Colorado. “Patients need to know that your cannabis consumption of other drugs may be less effective.”
220 percent more Propofol
For the analysis, the researchers selected 250 patients randomly, in which between the years 2016 and 2017, a gastroscopy performed. One in Ten said that regularly consume Cannabis. The Doctors compared in each case the quantity of the anesthetic agent with the information provided by the patient to your drug use. In addition to cannabis products, the use of alcohol, opiates and benzodiazepines was queried. The latter are, for example, in psychotropic drugs.
How strong is the Cannabis use had an impact on the dosage varied according to the anesthetic. In the case of Fentanyl, there were just under 14 percent, in the case of Midazolam, more than 20 per cent and 220 per cent in the case of Propofol. Some of the more than a three-fold dose of Propofol was even necessary.
The number of study participants is not representative and relatively small, however, the investigation confirmed previous analyses. Surprisingly, the result is not, therefore, says Götz Geldner, Medical Director of the clinic for anesthesiology, intensive care medicine, emergency medicine and pain therapy, Klinikum Ludwigsburg, which was not involved in the study.
Drug detoxification function of the life increase
Patients who take psychoactive substances such as alcohol, need more anesthetic, is anesthesiologists have long been known. “When the liver gets often to do with cannabinoids or alcohol, it increases its detoxifying function,” says Geldner. This is also an anesthetic would be degraded faster. In addition to drugs and alcohol and even tranquilizers and other psychotropic drugs therefore affect the effectiveness of anesthetics.
In one of the German society for anaesthesiology and intensive care medicine recommended patient questionnaire you will be asked for about ten years after the drug use. After Geldners evaluation more than 90 percent of the German hospitals using a comparable questionnaire. However, the requires that the patient answer honestly. Only with a blood test, Doctors can determine with absolute certainty how high the drug use really is.