Can marijuana use improve control of IBS symptoms?

Among patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), use of marijuana has no effect on 30-day hospital readmission for IBS-specific causes but may lower that for all causes, a study has found.

The study used data from the 2016 Nationwide Readmissions Database and included 7,163 IBS patients, of whom 357 reported cannabis use. The 30-day IBS-specific readmission rates were 1.5 percent among users vs 1.1 percent among nonusers (p=0.53).

None of the variables examined significantly predicted of IBS-specific readmission among cannabis users, whereas median income served as a predictor among nonusers (odds ratio [OR], 2.77, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.15–6.67; p=0.02).

Meanwhile, cannabis users had markedly lower 30-day readmission rates for all causes compared with nonusers (8.1 percent vs 12.7 percent). This was confirmed on multivariable regression analysis, which showed that the use of the substance almost halved the risk of the outcome (OR, 0.53, 95 percent CI, 0.28-0.99; p=0.04).

The five most common diagnoses at readmission among IBS patients without reported cannabis use were enterocolitis secondary to Clostridioides difficile infection, IBS without diarrhoea, sepsis, noninfective gastroenteritis and colitis, and acute kidney failure. Higher comorbidity scores and discharges with home healthcare were independent predictors of all-cause hospital readmission in this group.

On the other hand, among cannabis users, the five most frequent readmission diagnoses were cyclical vomiting, IBS with diarrhoea, endometriosis, right upper quadrant abdominal pain, and nausea with vomiting. A discharge disposition of “against medical advice” emerged as an independent risk factor for 30-day hospital readmission for all causes.