- Over seven million people worldwide suffer from sickle cell disease (SCD), a disorder that poses a serious risk to their lives. SCD is the most prevalent genetic hematological illness in the United States, affecting one in every 375 African Americans living in the country. People with SCD may experience a wide range of major medical issues, such as chronic anemia, stroke, acute chest syndrome, pulmonary embolism, renal failure, retinopathy, and many other serious issues. Pain is by far the problem that people with SCD most frequently encounter at some time in their lives (John N, 2010)Analysis Of Sickle Cell Disease And Pain Management Discussion.
The main therapy utilized to manage both acute and chronic pain in SCD has been opioids. Promoting non-pharmacologic methods for the treatment of chronic pain has become necessary in recent years due to worries about long-term opioid medication. For people with SCD, chronic opioid medication primarily treats the sensory/physical aspect of pain; it does not address the affective, behavioral, cognitive, cultural, or social aspects of life that are impacted by chronic pain (Booker M. et all, 2010).
I’ll be raising a topic for the debate in this post on Non-Pharmaceutical Treatments for Chronic Pain: Sickle Cell Disease. Since is important that non-pharmacological therapies be investigated and used as complements to pharmacological therapies to address and treat both acute and chronic pain for those with SCD. The PICOT question structure; Are non‐pharmacological interventions effective in reducing chronic pain in patient with Sickle Cell Diseases? In the PICOT acronym, the P stands for the population, which relates to patients with SCD. I stand for intervention; non-pharmacological pain management. The letter C represented Contrast; of pharmacological and non-pharmacological pain management techniques. O refers to the outcome, which is to manage chronic pain. T discusses our timeline for accomplishing this target.
A useful method for summarizing research questions that examine the impact of therapy is the PICOT format, the PICOT research question is frequently utilized in the medical industry. One of the first steps in exploring various knowledge sources and performing one’s own evidence-based research to learn more about a topic or condition and advance knowledge is to develop a specific and purposeful research question (Guyatt, G. & Rennie D, 1993)Analysis Of Sickle Cell Disease And Pain Management Discussion.
The search tools I used for this post’s purposes were PubMed, EMBASE, and Walden Library. My key words search was; non‐pharmacological, pain management, and sickle cell disease. which returned 12 articles on PubMed, 40 on EMBASE, and 17 at Walden Library, date range between 2009 through 2023. Using more than one database is one way to improve the accuracy and efficacy of an electronic search. A 2 PICO element search yielded more systematic reviews than a 4-element search, according to one study on search techniques. Additionally, it was discovered that in order to obtain a 90% retrieval of pertinent material, at least three databases needed to be combined (UTHealth, 2019)Analysis Of Sickle Cell Disease And Pain Management Discussion.
References
John N. (2010). A review of clinical profile in sickle cell traits. Oman medical journal, 25(1), 3–8. https://doi.org/10.5001/omj.2010.2Links to an external site.
Booker, M. J., Blethyn, K. L., Wright, C. J., & Greenfield, S. M. (2006). Pain management in sickle cell disease. Chronic illness, 2(1), 39–50. https://doi.org/10.1177/17423953060020011101Links to an external site.
Guyatt, G. H., & Rennie, D. (1993). Users’ guides to the medical literature. Jama, 270(17), 2096-2097