Podium Abstracts Presented at the 2025 Annual Meeting of the Arthroscopy Association of North America.

The opioid crisis in the United States has prompted physicians and health systems to investigate efficacious, alternative forms of pain control including cannabidiol (CBD). This study seeks to investigate the effect of CBD on pain and the number of opioids used following shoulder arthroscopy. We hypothesize that addition of CBD to an analgesic regimen will result in equivalent pain control and satisfaction, while decreasing post-operative narcotic utilization. This is a prospective, non-blinded clinical study of patients undergoing elective arthroscopic shoulder surgery by a single surgeon. Patients were randomized to either standard of care (SOC) post-operative analgesic regimen, or CBD in addition to SOC. Patients in the CBD group were instructed to take 200mg/mml/day for 30 days pre- operatively, and for 42 days post-operatively. Patients recorded the analgesic medications they took each day. All patients provided pre-operative, 2, and 6-week post-operative Visual Analog Score (VAS) for pain and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). Patient satisfaction was obtained at 2- and 6-weeks. Number and type of refills, alternative medications, and side effects were recorded. We performed between-group comparisons using a one-tailed t-test for independent samples. Twenty-nine patients, 15 CBD and 17 SOC, who underwent shoulder arthroscopy were included for analysis. Average age at surgery was 57 years (range:41-73). There were no differences in demographics, pain, satisfaction, or ISI at any time point. Average hydrocodone use at 2 (15.68 vs. 7.77 pills) and 6 weeks (6.50 vs. 2.14 pills), and average tramadol at 2 (13.47 vs. 8.00 pills) and 6 weeks (11.94 vs. 2.47 pills) was significantly greater in the SOC vs. CBD group (P = 0.002; P = 0.036; P = 0.0349; P = 0.027, respectively). Our study found a significant reduction in narcotic consumption with adjunct use of CBD. Importantly, both patient satisfaction and reported pain following surgery were equivalent, indicating satisfactory post-operative pain control with reductions in opiate medications. This study provides further evidence for the efficacious role of CBD as alternative analgesia. The authors have no commercial interests to disclose.