• Laura Renger, Jayesh Dhanani, Elissa Milford, Alexis Tabah, Kiran Shekar, Mahesh Ramanan, and Kevin B Laupland.
• Department of Intensive Care Services, Royal Brisbane and Womens Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Electronic address: drlaurarenger@gmail.com.
• J Crit Care. 2024 Apr 1; 80: 154504154504.

PurposeTo identify factors associated with cannabinoid use among patients admitted to ICU and its impact on survival.MethodsA cohort of adult patients admitted to four public Australian ICUs was assembled. Individuals with mental and behavioural disorders related to cannabinoids were identified using ICD10-AM codes.ResultsOf a cohort of 34,680 admissions among 28,689 adults, 292 (0.8%) had an associated diagnosis related to cannabinoids, of which 66% were classified as harmful use, 26% as dependence syndrome/withdrawal state, 4% as psychosis/delirium, and 4% as acute intoxication. Patients with cannabinoid-use disorders were more likely to be male (73%), tended to be younger (36 vs 62 years), with fewer comorbidities and lesser severity of disease. ICU LOS was longer for those with cannabinoid-use disorders (2 vs 1 days; p < 0.0001). Patients with cannabinoid-use disorders had lower 90-day case-fatality (6% vs. 10%; p = 0.034), however no significant effect on mortality was present after adjustment for severity of illness, age, and chronic comorbidities (p = 1.0).ConclusionCannabinoid-use disorders were present in 0.8% of ICU admissions in our region and were associated with increased ICU length of stay. Further studies are needed to examine cannabinoids as contributors to and modifiers of critical illness.Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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