Review of Literature: Sickle Cell Pain Management
Sickle cell disease is common in the United States among African-Americans, with one in 500 African-American children born with the disease (Beth Israel Medical Center Department of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care, 2005). Pain is a problem associated with sickle cell disease which occurs when blood vessels become clogged with sickle shaped red blood cells that are hard and sticky, preventing blood from flowing through the veins. A clogged blood vessel is called an occlusion and occlusions in blood vessels can lead to a painful sickle cell crisis known as vaso-occlusion.
While not all people with SCD have such crises, those who do often require assistance in coping with the pain and securing relief from its effects (Beth Israel Medical Center Department of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care, 2005). About 30 percent of all sickle cell disease sufferers rarely or never experience the pain caused by a crisis, about 50 percent have only a few crises throughout their lives, and 20 percent have frequent, severe, sickle cell crises. Managing the pain associated with SCD is an important consideration within medical practice and nursing care. It is this process which is the focus of this literature review.
The purpose of this review of literature is to examine a series of studies on pain management for individuals suffering from Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). The studies identified in the research effort are categorized herein into four classes: 1) Class I studies include prospective randomized clinical trials; 2) Class II studies include strong retrospective or non-randomized prospective studies; 3) Class II studies are those which focus on data registry analysis or secondary analysis of previously collected data or reported studies; and 4) Class IV studies are case reviews, case studies, or anecdotal data. The majority of studies reviewed herein fall into Class II.
A singl...