Cannabis Use Disorder Linked to More Complications After Wrist Fracture Surgery

Among 13,405 matched patients who underwent surgery for distal radius fractures, those with cannabis use disorder (n=2,297) had significantly higher rates of 90-day medical complications, emergency department visits (2.53% vs 1.14%), and readmissions (5.79% vs 4.29%). The incidence of CUD among surgical patients doubled from 4% to 8% between 2010 and 2020.

Retrospective cohort study using a national insurance database (2010-2020). Patients with CUD were 1:5 ratio matched to controls by age, sex, tobacco use, alcohol abuse, opioid dependence, and comorbidities. Multivariable logistic regression assessed 90-day outcomes.

As cannabis use disorder becomes more prevalent among surgical patients, understanding its association with postoperative outcomes helps surgeons counsel patients and plan for potential complications.

This adds to a growing body of surgical outcomes research suggesting cannabis use disorder is associated with more postoperative complications across multiple procedure types, not just major surgeries.

Insurance database study cannot distinguish between active cannabis use and historical CUD diagnosis. Matching cannot account for all confounders. "Cannabis abuse" diagnosis codes may undercount actual cannabis use. Cannot determine whether cannabis directly caused complications or is a marker for other risk factors.