Patients with complex regional pain syndrome (chronic neuropathic pain) report improvements in their health-related quality of life following their use of medical cannabis products, according to data published in the journal Brain and Behavior.

British researchers assessed the use of cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs) in 64 pain patients enrolled in the UK Medical Cannabis Registry. (British health care providers may prescribe cannabis-based medicinal products to patients who are unresponsive to conventional medications.) Patients’ outcomes were assessed at baseline and six months later. Study participants consumed either herbal cannabis or oil extracts containing both THC and CBD.

Investigators reported “clinically important” improvements in patients’ pain severity, anxiety, sleep quality, and overall quality of life following cannabis treatment. Participants with prior experience using cannabis “were more likely to experience clinically significant improvements” in their pain scores than were cannabis-naïve subjects.

The study’s authors concluded: “These findings are consistent with existing literature which similarly demonstrates an association between CBMP treatment and consistent improvements in pain severity in chronic or neuropathic pain conditions. … Importantly, the observed changes in pain-specific PROMs in this study may confer opioid-sparing effects in complex regional pain syndrome patients. … This supports further research through high-quality randomized controlled trials to ascertain the efficacy of cannabis-based medicinal products in improving complex regional pain syndrome symptoms.”

Other observational studies assessing the use of cannabis products among those enrolled in the UK Medical Cannabis Registry have reported them to be beneficial for patients diagnosed with treatment-resistant epilepsy, cancer-related pain, anxiety, fibromyalgia, inflammatory bowel disease, hypermobility disorders, depression, migraine, multiple sclerosis, osteoarthritis, substance use disorders, insomnia, and inflammatory arthritis, among other conditions.

Full text of the study, “UK Medical Cannabis Registry: A clinical outcomes analysis for insomnia,” appears in PLOS Mental Health. Additional information on cannabis and chronic pain is available from NORML’s publication, Clinical Applications for Cannabis & Cannabinoids.