The management of pain in sickle cell disease.
The pain of vaso-occlusive crisis in patients with sickle cell disease is excruciating, incapacitating, and sometimes refractory to even the most advanced analgesic treatments. A comprehensive, multimodal approach to therapy that includes education, cognitive therapies, anti-inflammatory drugs, opioids, and psychostimulant adjuvant drugs has been presented. Until a cure for the underlying disease is found, these are the best approaches available. The authors hope that future research will find even better modalities of analgesic care.
Yaster
M
M
Department of Anesthesiology, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. myaster@jhmi.edu
Kost-Byerly
S
S
Maxwell
L G
LG
D000208:Acute Disease; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000150:complications*; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D006801:Humans; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology*; D059408:Pain Management; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities
D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal