Use of Cannabis and cannabinoid therapies for chronic orofacial pain

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Created On: 08/05/2023

A scoping review was carried out to review the current evidence concerning the use of cannabis and cannabinoids for the treatment of chronic orofacial pain (COP) by specialists, such as orofacial pain specialists (OPS), oral and maxillofacial surgeons (OMFS) and oral medicine specialists (OMS).

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Key take away

The use of cannabinoid treatment is not just safe and effective for providing pain relief but also for several functional, physical, and psychosocial/cognitive outcomes in patients with chronic orofacial pain.

Background

Method

The sources with the effect of cannabinoid therapy on pain in COP patients that might be treated by specialized physicians were screened. They were retrieved from the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CCRCT), MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science Core Collections, Dentistry and Oral Sciences, and US National Institute of Health and Controlled Trials Register databases.

Two authors independently reviewed the sources. A summary of sources was done on the basis of date of publication, country, aim, COP condition, cannabinoid use, methodology, outcomes, drawbacks, and conclusions. To elucidate common aspects, importance, and gaps between the recognized sources, a thematic examination and word cloud were performed.

Result

Overall, 8 suitable studies met inclusion/exclusion criteria out of 705 retrieved titles. Three sources dealt with COP attributed to head and neck cancer followed by two sources with multiple sclerosis-related trigeminal neuralgia-like symptoms and 1 each for primary burning mouth syndrome, post-herpetic neuralgia and temporomandibular dysfunction.

Research studies with cannabinoids use comprised of: self-administered cannabis (3), N-palmitoyle-thanolamine topical (1), cannabis extract (1), cannabis sativa oil (1), cannabinoid-based oromucosal spray (1), and nabilone i.e synthetic cannabinoid (1).

Conclusion

Overall, the use of cannabinoid treatments was found to be safe. Some sources described that cannabinoid treatments have therapeutic benefits for COP. This review focused on a holistic approach with outcomes for depression, pain, anxiety, quality of life, and functional disability. Adjunctive and palliative therapies are commonly used terms associated with cannabinoids.