title: Oral morphine protocol for sickle cell crisis pain.
abstract: The painful vaso-occlusive crises that complicate sickle cell anemia can be difficult and frustrating for both patient and physician. We describe our experience using an oral morphine protocol for the treatment of sickle cell crisis pain. The emergency department (ED) visits of nine patients with sickle pain were reviewed for the 12 months before and after implementation of the protocol. The oral morphine regimen was associated with a significant reduction in the number of ED visits, total number of hours spent in the ED, and the proportion of visits that ended in admission to hospital (P < 0.01). The protocol is a useful tool for providing consistent oral analgesia to patients with sickle crisis pain.
authors.affiliation: University of Maryland Medical Center, USA.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Conti
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tso
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Browne
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000150:complications*; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D004630:Emergencies; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007052:Ibuprofen / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008297:Male; D008396:Maryland; D009020:Morphine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D009020:Morphine; D007052:Ibuprofen