Study: CBD, an effective alternative to opiates in the treatment of pain

The opiate crisis in the USA is prompting scientists to look for alternatives to opiate use. Researchers have recently begun investigating how cannabis can be used to help combat not only pain but also the country's excessive dependence on prescribed opioids.

One such study, conducted jointly in New York and Florida by researchers from the NYU Langone Health, evaluated the efficacy and safety of a new CBD-based product in the treatment of postoperative pain in patients who had recently undergone shoulder surgery.

The product, called ORAVEXX, an oral tablet that delivers CBD, was tested as part of the of a clinical trial phase 1/2 and involved 99 participants, all aged between 18 and 75. All participants had just undergone surgery to repair the part of the shoulder known as the rotator cuff. Half the group was treated with CBD, the other half was a control group who received a placebo. Their pain was measured using a standardized tool called the visual analog scale (VAS).

The results presented at the 2022 annual meeting of the’American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons in Chicago (USA) showed that on the day of surgery, patients who received CBD treatment experienced 23 % less pain than those in the control group.

On the first and second days of post-operative care, patients who received CBD reported between 22% and 25% more satisfaction with pain control than those in the control group. Half of the patients in the CBD group received 50 mg of CBD, and the other half 25 mg. Half of the 50 mg CBD group were «more satisfied with pain control» than the 25 mg group.

The trial's principal investigator, Michael J. Alaia, MD, associate professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at NYU Langone Health, said, «There is an urgent need for viable alternatives for pain management, and our study presents this form of CBD as a promising tool after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair. It could be an inexpensive new approach to pain relief, without the side effects of anti-inflammatory drugs like NSAIDs and the addiction risks associated with opiates. What's more, CBD has the advantage of relieving pain without the psychotropic effects associated with THC or marijuana.»

The size of the cohort in this clinical study nevertheless suggests that further research is needed.