Vaso-occlusive pain management is a common chief complaint for patient’s with sickle cell disease to utilize the emergency department. The purpose of this course is to discuss the evaluation and management of vaso-occlusive pain. This course will also discuss pitfalls many providers face with their own biases and attitudes related to pain management for these patients.

Objectives:

• Review common features of vaso-occlusive pain in sickle cell disease
• Discuss clinical assessment of vaso-occlusive pain
• Describe serious conditions associated with pain crisis and the approach for evaluation
• Discuss other possible complications of sickle cell disease
• Discuss pitfalls of provider biases’ on effective treatment
• Summarize patient and family education opportunities to reduce or minimize pain triggers