Risk of Revision Surgery and Manipulation Under Anesthesia in Patients With Cannabis Use Disorder Undergoing Total Knee Arthroplasty

Background: Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is a very common orthopedic procedure and with legalization of cannabis in many states, orthopedic surgeons are frequently encountering patients undergoing TKA with preoperative cannabis use disorder. There is conflicting and limited evidence on the impact of preoperative cannabis use and postoperative outcome.

Methods and materials: In this study we retrospectively reviewed PearlDiver insurance database and analyzed the characteristics of the cannabis use in TKA patients and the impact of preoperative diagnosis of cannabis use disorder on postoperative risk of manipulation under anesthesia (MUA) within one year and revision risk within two years. We compared our results to a matched sample of opioid use patients and standard TKA patients.

Result: Our study shows that cannabis use disorder was found in less than 1% of the patients undergoing total knee replacement. We identified 278 patients with cannabis use disorder undergoing TKA. More than 90% of the patients are between 40 to 69 years. There was no statistically significant gender difference noted with 130 males and 148 females. Matching sample analysis showed that the risk of MUA and risk of revision in these cannabis use patients are comparable to standard knee replacement patients and in TKA patients taking preoperative opioids.

Conclusion: Retrospective database review failed to identify any increased risk of MUA or two-year revision in cannabis use TKA patients.