Effects of cannabis positivity at the time of severe injury on hospital outcomes compared with individuals negative for illicit substances and those who were users of other illicit substances.
Differences in presenting characteristics, hospital length of stay, intensive care unit (ICU) stays, ventilator days, and death were compared. A total of 8,441 subjects presented during the study period; 2,134 (25%) of these had toxicology performed; 843 (40%) had an ISS of more than 16, with 347 having negative tests (NEG); 70 (8.3%) substance users tested positive only for marijuana (MO), 323 (38.3%) for other drugs-only, excluding marijuana (OD), and 103 (12.2%) subjects showed positivity for mixed-use (MU). The ISS was similar for all groups. No differences were identified in Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), ventilator days, blood administration, or ICU/hospital length of stay when comparing the Marijuana Only group with the Negative group. Significant differences occurred between the Other Drug group and the Negative/MarijuanaOnly/MixedUse groups for Glasgow Coma Scale, ICU length of stay, and hospital charges.
Cannabis users suffering from severe injury demonstrated no detrimental outcomes in this study compared with nondrug users.