Pain occurs when sickle cells travel through small blood vessels and clog blood flow after becoming stuck. It can last for anywhere from hours to days.
Rest, over the counter medicine (such as ibuprofen and aspirin), and fluids are some of the ways that SCD patients can treat mild pain symptoms at home. However, those who experience persistent and severe bouts of pain should seek medical treatment. In addition, children with SCD are at increased risk for stroke and other neurological and neurodevelopmental disorders, including seizures, headaches, cognitive delay, and ADHD.
An experienced, interdisciplinary care team works with each patient and family to manage a child's pain by promoting healthy daily functioning and pain coping skills using an interdisciplinary rehabilitation model. Our team includes:
- Pediatric pain fellowship-trained physician
- Child psychiatrists
- Pediatricians
- Pediatric rehabilitation physicians
- Pediatric psychologists/cognitive behavioral therapists
- Physical therapists
- Neuropsychologists
- Occupational therapists
- Social workers
- Care coordinators
- Case managers
- Educators
- Child life specialists
- Nurses/nurse practitioners
- Therapeutic recreation specialists
We offer a multimodal approach to pain management that includes:
- Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (e.g. deep controlled diaphragmatic breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, interactive distraction, guided visual imagery, cognitive restructuring, biofeedback, mindfulness, meditation)
- Physical Therapy (functional, manual and visceral therapies, heat/cold)
- Occupational therapy (activities of daily living)
- Non-narcotic pain medications
- Interventional pain procedures under sedation
- Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation
- Other novel and emerging treatment modalities for pain management
As one of the few hospitals in the country to offer interventional pain services for children guided by imaging in an operating room, we offer the following procedures:
- Epidural steroid injections
- Facet joint injections
- Sacroiliac joint injections
- Piriformis injections
- Muscle and joint injections
- Occipital nerve blocks
- Abdominal blocks (e.g., transverse abdominis plane [TAP] and rectus sheath blocks)
- Intercostal nerve blocks
- Sternum injections
- Bursa injections
- Scar injections
- Peripheral nerve blocks
- Trigger point injections