In this small study, 31 patients were observed who had been screened, and treated with standard medical pain control consisting of: 5 mg of oxycodone hydrochloride equivalent to 4.5 mg oxycodone and 2.5 mg naloxone hydrochloride twice a day and duloxetine 30 mg once a day.
After following this regimen for 3 months, the participants were given the opportunity to utilize medical cannabis therapy for a minimum of 6 months.
The standard regimen of synthetic medical analgesics provided minor patient improvements compared to their beginning points. However, medical marijuana (cannabis) therapy provided a significantly higher improvement in all patient self-recorded outcomes, including pain reduction and improvement in lumbar range of motion.
This improvement in patient pain level was noted within 3 months of marijuana therapy and remained after 6 months, while their range of motion improved within 3 months but continued to improve at the 6 month time frame. Obviously larger studies should be done in the future to expand upon these findings.
