Single-centre case series report of regional anaesthesia for pain management in vaso-occlusive crisis

Abstract

Sickle cell disease is characterised by episodes of vaso-occlusive crisis, a painful complication. Regional anaesthesia has shown promising results in reducing opioid consumption and pain scores. Patients with vaso-occlusive crises who underwent regional anaesthesia in the paediatric intensive care unit were studied. Data regarding pain location, regional analgesia technique, the local anaesthetic used and dose, daily opioid consumption, daily pain scores, use of adjuvants and complications were recorded. The primary outcome was to evaluate the effect of regional anaesthesia on opioid consumption. In this study, we describe 10 cases, referring to six paediatric patients with the vaso-occlusive crisis who underwent regional anaesthesia for severe pain and were unresponsive to increasing doses of opioids. Six cases received epidural analgesia, three continuous peripheral nerve blocks and one received both techniques. Opioid consumption was reduced (58%), and pain scores decreased (72%), both statistically significant reductions.