Medical Cannabis, a Beneficial High in Treatment of Blepharospasm? An Early Observation

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study was to observe the effect of medical cannabis in benign essential blepharospasm (BEB) as an adjunct to botulinum toxin. A retrospective chart review was performed on patients certified for medical cannabis use for BEB from September 2015 to May 2016. Patient demographics and responses, cannabis history, and severity indices were collected. Ten patients were certified for medical cannabis use. Five met the inclusion criteria, which was any patient with a diagnosis of BEB receiving standard botulinum toxin treatment who had started medical cannabis treatment by a registered distributor within the state, and was contactable by phone. Four patients discontinued use. Three out of four patients (75%) reported symptomatic improvement. Medical cannabis is an accepted therapy for muscle spastic disorders. Its potential as an adjunctive therapy for BEB remains unknown, and further investigations would be of benefit.

KEYWORDS:

• Blepharospasm
• cannabis
• marijuana
• muscle spasm

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Funding

This study was supported by an unrestricted grant from the Research to Prevent Blindness (New York, New York) and by the Lions and Lionesses of Minnesota.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by an unrestricted grant from the Research to Prevent Blindness (New York, New York) and by the Lions and Lionesses of Minnesota.