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Association Between Cannabis Use and Complications Related to Crohn’s Disease: A Retrospective Cohort Study

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Abstract

Background

Crohn’s disease is an idiopathic inflammatory process that is occasionally associated with complications, which cause significant morbidity and mortality. The anti-inflammatory effect of cannabis in intestinal inflammation has been shown in several experimental models; it is unknown whether this correlates with fewer complications in Crohn’s disease patients.

Aims

To compare the prevalence of Crohn’s disease-related complications among cannabis users and non-users in patients admitted with a primary diagnosis of Crohn’s disease or a primary diagnosis of Crohn’s related complication and a secondary diagnosis of Crohn’s disease between 2012 and 2014.

Methods

We used data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project–National Inpatient Sample. Cannabis users (615) were compared directly after propensity score match to non-users, in aspects of various complications and clinical end-points.

Results

Among matched cohorts, Cannabis users were less likely to have the following: active fistulizing disease and intra-abdominal abscess (11.5% vs. 15.9%; aOR 0.68 [0.49 to 0.94], p = 0.025), blood product transfusion (5.0% vs. 8.0%; aOR 0.48 [0.30 to 0.79], p = 0.037), colectomy (3.7% vs. 7.5%; aOR 0.48 [0.29–0.80], p = 0.004), and parenteral nutrition requirement (3.4% vs. 6.7%, aOR 0.39 [0.23 to 0.68], p = 0.009).

Conclusion

Cannabis use may mitigate several of the well-described complications of Crohn’s disease among hospital inpatients. These effects could possibly be through the effect of cannabis in the endocannabinoid system.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. John H Stroger Hospital of Cook County, Chicago, IL, USA

    Chimezie Mbachi, Bashar Attar, Yuchen Wang, Isaac Paintsil, Benjamin Mba, Rohit Agrawal, William Trick & Vikram Kotwal

  2. Rush University Medical Centre, Chicago, IL, USA

    Setri Fugar

  3. Gastroenterology and Hepatology Department, Digestive Disease Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Roberto Carlos Simons-Linares

  4. SUNY Downstate Medical Centre, New York, NY, USA

    Palash Jaiswal

  5. Chicago, USA

    Chimezie Mbachi

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  1. Chimezie Mbachi
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  2. Bashar Attar
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  4. Isaac Paintsil
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Correspondence to Chimezie Mbachi.

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Mbachi, C., Attar, B., Wang, Y. et al. Association Between Cannabis Use and Complications Related to Crohn’s Disease: A Retrospective Cohort Study. Dig Dis Sci 64, 2939–2944 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-019-05556-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-019-05556-z

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