Skip to main content

Table 2 Percentage of non-serious adverse events for medical cannabinoids (oral and oromucosal preparations) compared to control group

From: The emergency department care of the cannabis and synthetic cannabinoid patient: a narrative review

System/organ class

Percentage of non-serious adverse events

cannabinoid group

control group

Nervous system disordersa

36.7

31.1

Gastrointestinal disordersa

16.4

15.0

General disorders

14.1

17.9

Psychiatric disordersa

11.1

7.4

Musculoskeletal disorders

7.2

10.6

Renal and urinary disorders

5.1

8.2

Infections

2.9

4.3

Eye disordersa

2.3

1.0

  1. aSignificant difference
  2. The remaining systems organ classes including: injury, poisoning and procedural complications; metabolism and nutritional disorders; respiratory, thoracic and mediastinal disorders; skin and subcutaneous tissue disorders; blood and lymphatic system disorders; cardiac disorders; vascular disorders; and investigations all reported < 1% non-serious adverse events in the cannabinoid group and were not significantly different from the control group.
  3. Under each subcategory for specific disorders the following complaints without respect to the control group were made:
  4. For nervous system disorders, the most common complaints in the cannabinoid group were dizziness (15.5%), somnolence (8.2%), sedation (2.2%), headache (1.7%), abnormal coordination (1.6%), tremor (1.5%) and paresthesias (1.4%).
  5. For gastrointestinal disorders, the most common complaints in the cannabinoid group were other gastrointestinal tract disorder (6.2%), dry mouth (5.2%) and nausea (2.5%)
  6. For general disorders, the most common complaints in the cannabinoid group were pain (6.0%), asthenia (4.3%) and fatigue (2.4%)
  7. For psychiatric disorders, the most common complaints in the cannabinoid group were euphoric mood (2.8%), depression (2.0%) and mental disorder (1.1%)
  8. For musculoskeletal, connective tissue and bone disorders, the most common complaint in the cannabinoid group was muscle spasm (6.3%)
  9. For renal and urinary disorders, the most common complaint in the cannabinoid group was bladder disorder (4.8%)
  10. For infections and infestations, the most common complaint in the cannabinoid group was infection (2.9%).
  11. For eye disorders, the most common complaint in the cannabinoid group was blurred vision (2.3%).
  12. All remaining subcategories of complaints were reported at < 1%
  13. Table adapted from Wang T, Collet J-P, Shapiro S, Ware MA. Adverse effects of medical cannabinoids: a systematic review. CMAJ. 2008; 178(13): 1669–1678
Back to article page

International Journal of Emergency Medicine

ISSN: 1865-1380

Contact us