EMOTTAWA
EMOTTAWA - By: Adam Parks - May 24, 2018
"Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is a complex medical entity, associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Patients with SCD suffer from acute and chronic pain, along with a seemingly endless list of additional complications (from hemolysis and sequestration, to aplastic crises and acute chest syndrome). The associated morbidity of SCD is apparent, but these patients also have an alarming decrease in life expectancy, with recent estimates ranging from 28-49 years. Nationally, there is an estimated 5000 patients who suffer from SCD in Canada, and this number is likely to quickly increase given high rates of immigration from countries with high prevalence of SCD, combined with the increased survival associated with improved medical care.
From an Emergency Department (ED) perspective, many providers find the disease and its associated complications challenging and cumbersome. This summary will provide an abbreviated approach to SCD pathophysiology, vaso-occlusive pain crisis (VOC), and acute chest syndrome (AChS) in the ED..."