Background: Cannabis consumption among adults over 18 has increased since more states have legalized its use. In turn, anesthesia providers now need to aim at reducing the risk of surgical or anesthetic morbidity and mortality related to this through more thorough preoperative assessments.
Purpose/Specific Aims: To determine if a preoperative cannabis screening tool impacts anesthetic care and develop meaningful questions agreed upon by an expert panel to include in a prototypical screening tool.
Methods: The eDelphi method was utilized to survey anesthesia providers within the Narragansett Bay Anesthesia group and the Rhode Island Association of Nurse Anesthetists. Consensus feedback was collected and analyzed 104 responses using the Qualtrics program to determine which questions would be most appropriate in the final screening tool.
Results: Round one survey (n=55): anesthesia providers (AP) agreed that a preoperative cannabis screening tool is important (>90%); APs stated they ask patients about cannabis use preoperatively (>98%); APs stated a patient response to using cannabis alters the anesthetic plan (>98%). Four of the six tentative screening tool questions received consensus. Round two survey (n=49): five of the six modified preoperative cannabis screening tool questions received consensus. Four open-ended responses were collected.
Conclusion: The majority of APs in this study agreed that a preoperative cannabis screening tool would improve anesthetic patient care. Additionally, participants provided consensus for a total of five effective questions to be included in a preoperative screening tool.
