The goal of this pilot study is to improve emergency department (ED) pain management for adults with sickle cell disease (SCD). Management of painful episodes associated with SCD, referred to as vaso-occlusive crises (VOC), is the most common reason for SCD patients to visit the ED. Currently, there is no standard approach to managing VOC pain in the ED that is widely accepted and used, and pain management for VOC in persons with SCD is very different between providers and not based on research. Many times, patients who come to the ED with sickle cell pain feel that they do not receive adequate pain control. If EDs could provide efficient, effective, safe, patient-centered analgesic management, it may be possible to improve pain management for adults with SCD experiencing a VOC. Guidelines for treating VOC caused by SCD will soon be published by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health. These guidelines recommend patient-specific pain treatment protocols or a standardized pain management protocol for SCD when a patient does not already have a pain treatment protocol designed for them. The purpose of this pilot study is to compare these two ways to treat vaso-occlusive pain in the ED for adults with SCD, and to determine if a large randomized controlled trial is feasible and required.

More information: clinicaltrials.gov, ITHANET Clinical Trials