Medical cannabis as a therapeutic approach: an integrative review

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the pattern of prescription of cannabis compounds, thus relating it to the diagnosis in which it was prescribed. Methods: The methodological approach of this study proposes a bibliographic compilation of qualitative research of descriptive character from an integrated literature review using data from the National Library of Medicine, Virtual Health Library and Directory of Open Access Journals. The terms “Medical Cannabis”, “drug therapy” and “treatment” were used as descriptors. Inclusion criteria were articles from randomized or non-randomized clinical trials, case-control studies, cohort study, free access, published in English, Portuguese, Spanish and between 2017 and 2022. Results: The articles were evaluated as follows: results where the diagnoses in which medical cannabis were used were fibromyalgia, post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic insomnia, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, severe behavioral problems, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, advanced cancer in care palliatives, sickle cell disease, chronic pain, dementia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, epilepsy, low back pain and chronic neuropathic pain. Final considerations: Thus, it was observed that fibromyalgia, ulcerative colitis and chronic pain were prescribed cannabis with a satisfactory response. Also the highest prescription occurred with the tetrahydrocannabinol compound associated with cannabidiol.