Chronic pancreatitis is a debilitating, progressive, and irreversible disorder characterized by a cycle of inflammation and fibrosis. The etiology of chronic pancreatitis is broad and ranges from genetic to anatomic factors. Chronic pancreatitis is also a painful disorder with numerous patients using narcotics for relief. We aimed to study the clinical outcomes of patients with chronic pancreatitis with a concomitant diagnosis of cannabis use in comparison to patients with chronic pancreatitis who do not use cannabis.
Methods: The NIS database was queried for the years 2015-2019. Adult patients ( >age 18) with a diagnosis of cannabis use and chronic pancreatitis versus those with chronic pancreatitis only as a principal discharge diagnosis were identified using ICD-10 codes. The primary outcome was inpatient mortality. Secondary outcomes were hospital length of stay (LOS) and total hospital charges (TOTHC). Statistical analysis was performed using STATA.
Results: We identified 153,407 patients who had chronic pancreatitis, of which 8,985 patients had a concomitant diagnosis of cannabis use. After propensity score matching, patients with a diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis and cannabis use had decreased mortality (OR 0.34, p< 0.0001, CI:0.27-0.45), decreased LOS ( -0.98 days, p< 0.0001, CI: 1.12 to -0.83) and decreased (TOTHC -$13,845, p< 0.0001, CI: -$15,954 to -11,736) compared to patients with only a diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis.
Discussion: Patients with chronic pancreatitis who use cannabis interestingly had lower mortality, LOS, and TOTHC compared to patients with chronic pancreatitis who do not use cannabis. This is an important study that demonstrates that cannabis use is not detrimental and can be effective in controlling symptoms and improving outcomes in certain patient populations. Further randomized controlled trials are necessary to further illustrate our results.
