Comparing Acute Pain Management Protocols for Patients With Sickle Cell Disease
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2016-06-30
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
The goal of this pilot study is to improve emergency department (ED) pain management for
adults with sickle cell disease. Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the most common genetic
disorder in the United States, and occurs primarily among African Americans. 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
vaso-occlusive crisis 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 vaso-occlusive crises caused by
sickle cell disease 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 sickle cell
disease, and to determine if a large randomized controlled trial is feasible and required.
Phase:
Phase 4
Details
Lead Sponsor:
Duke University
Collaborators:
Mount Sinai Hospital, New York National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) National Institutes of Health (NIH) University of Cincinnati