Hejazi RA, Mandourah NA, Alsulami AS, Bakhsh HT, Diri RM, Noor AO. Commonly used agent for acute pain management of sickle cell anemia in Saudi Emergency Department: A narrative review.
Saudi Pharm J 2021;
29:487-496. [PMID:
34194255 PMCID:
PMC8233527 DOI:
10.1016/j.jsps.2021.02.001]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2020] [Accepted: 02/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION
Sickle-cell disease (SCD) is one of the most common hematologic inherited disorders in Saudi Arabia. Vaso-occlusive pain crisis in SCD is a major cause for emergency visits and patients' pain may be undertreated. This study presents a narrative literature review of current agents used to manage acute pain crisis in SCD patients presenting to the emergency department in hospitals of Saudi Arabia.
METHOD
We conducted a narrative review on relevant published articles about sickle cell disease pain crisis management in Saudi Arabia and included seven relevant studies based on our inclusion criteria.
RESULTS
Using our search strategy, we included 7 studies Out of 4052. Studies included were conducted in different locations in the country. Four studies were in the Eastern region while only one in Western and One in Central regions. Those studies included around 2441 patients, in total. Morphine was used in 5 studies out of the 7 included. Pethidine was used in 4. One study used Isoxsuprine and another study used tinzaparin.
CONCLUSION
We found that continuous administration of IV morphine accompanied by oral analgesics including NSAIDs and acetaminophen is the most commonly used practice for treating SCD patients presenting with a vaso-occlusive pain crisis. Possible effectiveness of tinzaparin, isoxsuprine, and pethidine as therapeutic options may be considered. However, there was no recommendation for a certain agent to be prescribed. We recommend conducting further clinical randomized-controlled trials.
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