Cannabinoids in anaesthesia and pain therapy

Current Opinion in Anaesthesiology
Shahnaz Christina Azad, Gerhard Rammes

Abstract

Cannabinoids have been known for their analgesic, anxiolytic, antiemetic and antispastic properties for many centuries. Since an endogenous cannabinoid system has been identified in the past two decades, cannabinoids have also become the focus of interest in western medicine. This review summarizes preclinical and clinical studies on the role of the endocannabinoid system and exogenous cannabinoids in anaesthesia and pain management. It has recently been shown that the endocannabinoid system is involved in the effects of the widely used anaesthetic drug propofol. In terms of nociception, preclinical data suggest that the endocannabinoid system plays an important role in the control of synaptic transmission and synaptic plasticity in pain pathways. In patients, the treatment of acute pain often requires relatively high doses of cannabinoids, which are associated with considerable side-effects such as dizziness and sedation. In contrast, preclinical and clinical data suggest that lower doses of cannabinoids may be effective for the treatment of allodynia and hyperalgesia in neuropathic pain. In multiple sclerosis, cannabinoids have been shown to have beneficial effects on spasticity, pain, tremor and bladder dysfunction. In gener...Continue Reading

References

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Citations

Sep 1, 2009·Expert Review of Clinical Pharmacology·Lisa Hill, Stephan A Schug
Feb 25, 2009·Expert Opinion on Investigational Drugs·Matthias Karst, Sonja Wippermann
Jul 27, 2010·PM & R : the Journal of Injury, Function, and Rehabilitation·Patrick H Finan, Alex J Zautra
Sep 3, 2011·Journal of Neurochemistry·Christian P MüllerMaria A De Souza Silva
Dec 15, 2010·Drugs·Matthias KarstJörg Ahrens
Oct 2, 2015·Anesthesia and Analgesia·Maren Kleine-BrueggeneyLorenz G Theiler
Mar 8, 2008·Learning & Memory·Shahnaz Christina AzadGerhard Rammes

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