New treatment plan leads to better pain control for acute sickle cell crisis

There’s new hope for the 70,000 to 80,000 Americans who are currently living with sickle cell disease (SCD). Thanks to new guidelines for therapy, SCD patients have better pain control during acute pain crisis and reduced hospital stays. The guidelines were presented by Jennifer Yu, MD, a pediatric hematologist/oncologist at Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego and an assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at UC San Diego School of Medicine during the 2017 American College of Physicians (ACP) Internal Medicine Annual Meeting held in San Diego. Dr. Yu said these recommendations are based mainly on the National Institutes of Health’s Evidence-Based Management of Sickle Cell Disease, Expert Panel Report 2014. Related story