Sickle cell disease complications

Join us for part 2 of our 2 part series on sickle cell disease. In this episode, we’ll go over the acute complications related to sickle cell disease and their management.

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This episode was written by pediatricians Tammy Yau and Lidia Park with content support from Anjali Pawar (UC Davis pediatric hematology). Pediatricians Tammy and Lidia take full responsibility for any errors or misinformation. 

Key Points:

• Consider acute chest syndrome in a patient with cough, fever, hypoxemia, and new infiltrate on CXR 
• Acute pain episodes should be treated with IV hydration, oxygen as needed, and adequate pain management. 
• Chronic complications often result from chronic vascular blockage and inadequate oxygenation such as splenomegaly, avascular necrosis, retinopathy, nephropathy, and ulcers. 

Sources:

• Pediatrics 2024, A. Yates. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2024-066842