TY - JOUR PY - 2023// TI - Mechanisms of injury in adolescent trauma patients with a positive marijuana screen JO - American surgeon A1 - Aryan, Negaar A1 - Grigorian, Areg A1 - Matsushima, Kazuhide A1 - Schellenberg, Morgan A1 - Nahmias, Jeffry A1 - Emigh, Brent A1 - Inaba, Kenji SP - ePub EP - ePub VL - ePub IS - ePub N2 - BACKGROUND: Marijuana use among adolescents may have increased after its legalization in the United States. An association between violence and marijuana use in adults has been demonstrated in previous reports. We hypothesized that adolescent trauma patients presenting with a positive marijuana screen (pMS) are more likely to have been injured by gunfire or knives and will have more severe injuries overall, compared to patients with a negative marijuana screen (nMS).

METHODS: The 2017 Trauma Quality Improvement Program database was queried for adolescent (13-17 years old) pMS patients and compared to adolescents who tested negative for all substance/alcohol. Patients with positive polysubstance/alcohol were excluded.

RESULTS: From 8257 adolescent trauma patients, 2060 (24.9%) had a pMS with a higher rate of males in the pMS group (76.3% vs 64.3%, P <.001). The pMS group presented more frequently after gun (20.3% vs 7.9%, P <.001) or knife trauma (5.7% vs 3.0%, P <.001) and less frequently after falls (8.9% vs 15.6%, P <.001) and bicycle collisions (3.3% vs 4.8%, P =.002). The rate of serious thoracic injury (AIS ≥3) was higher for pMS patients (16.7% vs 12.0%, P <.001), and more pMS patients required emergent operation (14.9% vs 10.6%, P <.001).

DISCUSSION: In our adolescent patient population, one quarter tested positive for marijuana. These patients are more likely to be injured by guns and/or knives suffering serious injuries, and often require immediate operative intervention. A marijuana cessation program for adolescents can help improve outcomes in this high-risk patient group.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0003-1348 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00031348231157807 ID - ref1 ER -