You should not smoke weed before surgery. Likenicotine, marijuana can complicate surgery, impact how quickly you get out of the hospital, and delay healing. You should avoid it in the weeks and even months before your procedure.
This article explains how marijuana can interfere with surgery and why abstaining from it is part of the pre-surgery recommendations you’ll get from your healthcare provider.
Benefits of Quitting
Researchers know that marijuana use prior to surgery can potentially interact with anesthesia.In addition, it can lead to breathing difficulties and increased pain.
Much like the benefits of quitting cigarettes before surgery, quitting marijuana also has benefits. Abstaining from marijuana in the weeks before surgery can decrease the likelihood of complications.
Unfortunately, research on the topic ofmarijuana useand its effects during surgery is limited. That’s because the federal government still classifies marijuana as a Schedule I substance. That classification limits the ability to do adequate research on its use.
As the legalization of medical and recreational marijuana increases, it will be easier to gather scientific data on the topic.
Types of MarijuanaBefore surgery, you should avoid all types of marijuana. That means you should not smoke it, eat edibles, or use synthetic marijuana.
Types of Marijuana
Before surgery, you should avoid all types of marijuana. That means you should not smoke it, eat edibles, or use synthetic marijuana.
Smoking Risks
If your use involves regularly smoking marijuana, it may lead to the same risks of complications assmoking cigarettes. Therefore, marijuana smokers may be more likely than non-smokers to experience:
Contrary to popular wisdom, marijuana smoking is not a healthier alternative to cigarettes. On the contrary, it can increase the risk oflung cancerand other respiratory problems.
The chronic coughing, wheezing, and difficulty breathing that long-term cigarette smokers experience also occur in marijuana users.
The process of inhaling marijuana, then holding it in the lungs for extended periods to increase absorption, leads to increased exposure to cancer-causing chemicals.
Verywell / Brianna Gilmartin
Marijuana and Anesthesia
Studies have found that those who use marijuana before surgery require moreanesthesiathan those who do not. So, it’s important to discuss your use with your healthcare provider before surgery to ensure you receive adequate sedation.
Synthetic marijuana, in particular, is unregulated and poorly understood. The contents are also highly variable. For these reasons, it is impossible to predict how it might interact with anesthesia.
Dosage
The use of marijuana, especially immediately before surgery, can change the doses needed for sedation.A person who routinely uses marijuana requires substantially higher doses of one commonly used medication, propofol.
One study looked at the doses of propofol required to intubate people who routinely smoked marijuana compared with those who did not.Those who used marijuana required a dramatic increase in sedation.
Airway Obstruction
One case study looked at a person who smoked marijuana four hours before surgery. The patient experienced an airway obstruction during the procedure—a severe complication that can lead to death.
Researchers believed airway hyperreactivity was the cause. This condition, in which the airway spasms and narrows, is known in cigarette smokers but was not previously reported in marijuana smokers.
Interactions with Anesthesia Drugs
THC(delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), which is the main active ingredient of cannabis, is acentral nervous system(CNS) depressant. That means it can further slow brain activity if used in combination with medications such as benzodiazepines, narcotics, or other sedative hypnotic drugs.
Aspiration Risk
THC can also slow gastric function, causing a significant delay in how quickly food leaves the stomach. This may increase the risk of aspiration during anesthesia.
Any food or liquid that enters a person’s airway can lead to choking, respiratory complications, and infection.
It is unlikely that your marijuana use will delay your surgery, but it is essential that theanesthesiologistknows about it. They need to understand the chance that your body will need more anesthetic than is typical.
Marijuana and the Vascular System
If you use marijuana the day before surgery, especially the hours before the procedure, it can cause more dramatic effects.That’s because of the impact that cannabis and surgery have on your blood vessels.
Marijuana causes the blood vessels of the body to relax. This process is calledvasodilation. It can cause lower blood pressure and increased heart rate.
These changes, in turn, can complicate matters if a person’s blood pressure falls during surgery. In addition, it can change the way the body responds to anesthesia.
After Surgery
Marijuana use can impact how you recover from surgery. For example, studies have indicated that marijuana affectsventilator(breathing machine) usage and pain after surgery.
Ventilator
Regularly smoking marijuana, like smoking cigarettes and cigars, can increase the length of time a person needs to stay on the ventilator after surgery.
Increased Pain
In a study of 118 people who had surgery for a broken leg, researchers compared those who had used marijuana before surgery to those who did not. Researchers presented the findings at their 2020 annual meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists.
The researchers found that those who used marijuana:
Withdrawal Symptoms
Regular and heavy marijuana use may cause withdrawal symptoms. These can begin one to two days after the last time someone takes the drug.
These symptoms may include:
Talk to Your Healthcare ProviderYou must be truthful with your healthcare provider about your personal use of marijuana. Be sure to give them an accurate account of how much, how often, and how you consume it.Honestly disclosing your marijuana use will allow healthcare professionals to watch for known risks and help them make the best decisions about your anesthesia and pain management.
Talk to Your Healthcare Provider
You must be truthful with your healthcare provider about your personal use of marijuana. Be sure to give them an accurate account of how much, how often, and how you consume it.Honestly disclosing your marijuana use will allow healthcare professionals to watch for known risks and help them make the best decisions about your anesthesia and pain management.
You must be truthful with your healthcare provider about your personal use of marijuana. Be sure to give them an accurate account of how much, how often, and how you consume it.
Honestly disclosing your marijuana use will allow healthcare professionals to watch for known risks and help them make the best decisions about your anesthesia and pain management.
Summary
Marijuana use can increase the risks of surgery. These risks include requiring more anesthesia, experiencing more pain, and trouble with breathing, blood pressure, and heart rate.
Stopping marijuana use before surgery is the best way to avoid these risks. The sooner you quit before surgery, the greater the benefit.
9 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Twardowski MA, Link MM, Twardowski NM.Effects of cannabis use on sedation requirements for endoscopic procedures.J Am Osteopath Assoc.2019;119:307-311. doi:10.7556/jaoa.2019.052Park S, Myung SK.Cannabis smoking and risk of cancer: a meta-analysis of observational studies.J Clin Oncol.2016;34(12):1430. doi:10.1200/jgo.18.79302Ghasemiesfe M, Ravi D, Vali M, et al.Marijuana use, respiratory symptoms, and pulmonary function: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Ann Intern Med.2018;169(2):106-115. doi:10.7326/M18-0522Huson HB, Granados TM, Rasko Y.Surgical considerations of marijuana use in elective procedures.Heliyon. 2018;4(9):e00779. doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e00779Huson HB, Granados TM, Rasko Y.Surgical considerations of marijuana use in elective procedures.Heliyon. 2018;4(9):e00779. doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e00779Horvath C, Dalley CB, Grass N, Tola DH.Marijuana use in the anesthetized patient: history, pharmacology, and anesthetic considerations.AANA J. 2019;87(6):451-458.American Society of Anesthesiologists.Eight things to tell your physician anesthesiologist before surgery.American Society of Anesthesiologists.Cannabis use prompts need for more anesthesia during surgery, increases pain and postoperative opioid use, study shows.MedlinePlus.Marijuana.
9 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Twardowski MA, Link MM, Twardowski NM.Effects of cannabis use on sedation requirements for endoscopic procedures.J Am Osteopath Assoc.2019;119:307-311. doi:10.7556/jaoa.2019.052Park S, Myung SK.Cannabis smoking and risk of cancer: a meta-analysis of observational studies.J Clin Oncol.2016;34(12):1430. doi:10.1200/jgo.18.79302Ghasemiesfe M, Ravi D, Vali M, et al.Marijuana use, respiratory symptoms, and pulmonary function: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Ann Intern Med.2018;169(2):106-115. doi:10.7326/M18-0522Huson HB, Granados TM, Rasko Y.Surgical considerations of marijuana use in elective procedures.Heliyon. 2018;4(9):e00779. doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e00779Huson HB, Granados TM, Rasko Y.Surgical considerations of marijuana use in elective procedures.Heliyon. 2018;4(9):e00779. doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e00779Horvath C, Dalley CB, Grass N, Tola DH.Marijuana use in the anesthetized patient: history, pharmacology, and anesthetic considerations.AANA J. 2019;87(6):451-458.American Society of Anesthesiologists.Eight things to tell your physician anesthesiologist before surgery.American Society of Anesthesiologists.Cannabis use prompts need for more anesthesia during surgery, increases pain and postoperative opioid use, study shows.MedlinePlus.Marijuana.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Twardowski MA, Link MM, Twardowski NM.Effects of cannabis use on sedation requirements for endoscopic procedures.J Am Osteopath Assoc.2019;119:307-311. doi:10.7556/jaoa.2019.052Park S, Myung SK.Cannabis smoking and risk of cancer: a meta-analysis of observational studies.J Clin Oncol.2016;34(12):1430. doi:10.1200/jgo.18.79302Ghasemiesfe M, Ravi D, Vali M, et al.Marijuana use, respiratory symptoms, and pulmonary function: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Ann Intern Med.2018;169(2):106-115. doi:10.7326/M18-0522Huson HB, Granados TM, Rasko Y.Surgical considerations of marijuana use in elective procedures.Heliyon. 2018;4(9):e00779. doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e00779Huson HB, Granados TM, Rasko Y.Surgical considerations of marijuana use in elective procedures.Heliyon. 2018;4(9):e00779. doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e00779Horvath C, Dalley CB, Grass N, Tola DH.Marijuana use in the anesthetized patient: history, pharmacology, and anesthetic considerations.AANA J. 2019;87(6):451-458.American Society of Anesthesiologists.Eight things to tell your physician anesthesiologist before surgery.American Society of Anesthesiologists.Cannabis use prompts need for more anesthesia during surgery, increases pain and postoperative opioid use, study shows.MedlinePlus.Marijuana.
Twardowski MA, Link MM, Twardowski NM.Effects of cannabis use on sedation requirements for endoscopic procedures.J Am Osteopath Assoc.2019;119:307-311. doi:10.7556/jaoa.2019.052
Park S, Myung SK.Cannabis smoking and risk of cancer: a meta-analysis of observational studies.J Clin Oncol.2016;34(12):1430. doi:10.1200/jgo.18.79302
Ghasemiesfe M, Ravi D, Vali M, et al.Marijuana use, respiratory symptoms, and pulmonary function: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Ann Intern Med.2018;169(2):106-115. doi:10.7326/M18-0522
Huson HB, Granados TM, Rasko Y.Surgical considerations of marijuana use in elective procedures.Heliyon. 2018;4(9):e00779. doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e00779
Horvath C, Dalley CB, Grass N, Tola DH.Marijuana use in the anesthetized patient: history, pharmacology, and anesthetic considerations.AANA J. 2019;87(6):451-458.
American Society of Anesthesiologists.Eight things to tell your physician anesthesiologist before surgery.
American Society of Anesthesiologists.Cannabis use prompts need for more anesthesia during surgery, increases pain and postoperative opioid use, study shows.
MedlinePlus.Marijuana.
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