*EMBARGOED All research presented at the 2019 ACG Annual Scientific Meeting and Postgraduate Course is strictly embargoed until Monday, October 28, 2019, at 8:00 am CDT.
Oral 68 Single Day Low Residue Diet Prior to Colonoscopy Shows Improved Bowel Preparation Quality and Patient Tolerance Over Clear Liquid Diet: Final Results From a Randomized, Single-Blinded, Dual Center Study
Author Insight from Nabil Chehade, MD, University of California Irvine Medical Center
What’s new here and important for clinicians?
We feel there is a new insight provided within our abstract that is important to glean for both patients and clinicians. Namely, as cannabis is the most frequently used illicit drug in the world the need to understand related adverse effects is paramount.
Hence, in our retrospective study we identified 410, 385 hospital encounters for “cannabis use” using international classification of Diseases (ICD-9) diagnostic codes from 2011 to 2014. We assessed the incidence of acute pancreatitis in cannabis use patients and independent predictors of acute pancreatitis by multivariate analysis. We found that (1.3%) acute pancreatitis with history of cannabis use (study group) and 404916 (98.7%) without acute pancreatitis in cannabis use population (control group). Hence, the odds of developing acute pancreatitis among cannabis use patient is significantly higher (P< 0.001, adjusted odds ratio [aOR]=1.20, CI; 1.14-1.25).
Importantly, cannabis can now be linked as an etiologic culprit of inducing acute pancreatitis. This will help decrease hospital length of stay as clinicians will now be aware of the possible offending agent and not wait for results from other causes to return. Moreover, patients will avoid this noxious agent as the fear of hospitalization can act as a deterring factor.
What do patients need to know?
Patients, certainly those of male gender or African American race, need to, and now will know, that there can be a up to 20% increased likelihood of acute pancreatitis among the cannabis use. Hence, it should be avoided and treated like an offending/noxious agent.
Author Contact
Jason Samarasena, MD, FACG, University of California Irvine Medical Center
jsamaras [at] uci [dot] edu
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