Guidance
This guideline covers managing acute painful sickle cell episodes in children, young people and adults who present at hospital, from presentation until when they are discharged. It aims to reduce variation in how acute episodes are managed in hospital, focusing on effective, prompt and safe pain relief.
Recommendations
This guideline includes recommendations on:
- individualised assessment at presentation
- primary analgesia
- reassessment and ongoing management
- possible acute complications
- managing underlying pathology
- non-pharmacological interventions
- discharge information
Who is it for?
- Healthcare professionals
- People with sickle cell disease and their families and carers
Is this guideline up to date?
June 2023: We have found no new evidence that affects the recommendations. For more information, see the surveillance decision.
Guideline development process
How we develop NICE guidelines
This guideline was previously called sickle cell acute painful episode: management of an acute painful sickle cell episode in hospital.
Your responsibility
The recommendations in this guideline represent the view of NICE, arrived at after careful consideration of the evidence available. When exercising their judgement, professionals and practitioners are expected to take this guideline fully into account, alongside the individual needs, preferences and values of their patients or the people using their service. It is not mandatory to apply the recommendations, and the guideline does not override the responsibility to make decisions appropriate to the circumstances of the individual, in consultation with them and their families and carers or guardian.
All problems (adverse events) related to a medicine or medical device used for treatment or in a procedure should be reported to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency using the Yellow Card Scheme.
Local commissioners and providers of healthcare have a responsibility to enable the guideline to be applied when individual professionals and people using services wish to use it. They should do so in the context of local and national priorities for funding and developing services, and in light of their duties to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, to advance equality of opportunity and to reduce health inequalities. Nothing in this guideline should be interpreted in a way that would be inconsistent with complying with those duties.
Commissioners and providers have a responsibility to promote an environmentally sustainable health and care system and should assess and reduce the environmental impact of implementing NICE recommendations wherever possible.