Acute severe pain is the hallmark of SCD and one of the major causes of hospitalization (Roy et al., 2017, Pizzo et al., 2015). Sickle cell pain is said to be worse than postoperative or trauma pain and is as intense as metastatic bone cancer pain (Wilkie et al., 2010, Jenerette and Leak, 2012). Further, increased severity and frequency of pain episodes is associated with shortened survival in patients with SCA (Platt et al., 1991, Maitra et al., 2017). Polymerisation of sickle Hb on deoxygenation is an initiating step of macro and microvascular occlusion and tissue infraction (Lu et al., 2016, Stockman et al., 1972, DeBaun et al., 2014). Tissue damage leads to vascular occlusion that trigger a series of events referred as nociception. Studies
Maintaining normal core body temperature (normothermia) in patients within perioperative environments is both a challenging and important aspect to ensure patient safety, comfort and positive surgical outcomes (Tanner, 2011; Wu, 2013; Lynch, Dixon & Leary, 2010). Normorthermia is defined as temperatures from 36C to 38C, and is maintained through thermoregulation which is the balance between heat loss and heat gain (Paulikas, 2008). When normothermia is not maintained within the perioperative environments, and the patient’s core body temperature drops below 36C, they are at risk of developing various adverse consequences due to perioperative hypothermia (Wagner, 2010). Perioperative hypothermia is classified into three
Pain has been defined by Coates & Hindle as an unpleasant emotional and sensory experience which signals a potential or actual damage to tissues (2011, p. 213). Pain is a common human experience and can emanate from injury and illness. There are two main types of pain; acute pain is short-lived, lasting for minutes or several days and its onset often takes place rapidly. It results from the activation of pain nerve endings or nociceptors either by internal or external pain stimuli. On the other hand chronic pain is continuous and sometimes recurrent and can last for weeks, months or even years. Chronic pain is usually not located at or related to the tissue undergoing trauma (Draper & Knight, 2007, p. 104). Various theories have been proposed to explain the mechanism underlying the transmission and perception of pain.
Sickle cell disease is a group of disorders that affects the blood, specifically, a molecule called hemoglobin in red blood cells (“sickle cell disease”, 2016). Hemoglobin is a molecule that facilitates the delivery of oxygen throughout the body (“sickle cell disease”, 2016). A mutant form of the hemoglobin molecule causes red blood cells to become crescent shaped or “sickled shaped” (Lonergan et. al. 2001). This distorted shape of red blood cells causes rigidity of the blood cells and vaso-occulusion (or the blood vessels to become clogged) (Rees et.al., 2010). This often leads to a low number of red blood cells (anemia), repeated infections and episodes of pain that are periodic (“Sickle cell disease”, 2016). Although sickle cell disease
Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) (also known as Sickle Cell Disorder or Sickle Cell Anemia) is an inherited blood disorder where the red blood cells have abnormal sickle-shaped hemoglobin S (HbS) called sickle haemoglobin (National Heart Lungs and Blood Institute (NHLBI), 2015). The disease, according to medical sciences, is inherited from both parents as part of their genetic makeup and is usually caused by some abnormalities in haemoglobin which is a protein in red blood cells that conveys oxygen through the body. Whereas normal red blood cells are round, in people with sickle cell anemia, a defective substance in red blood cells changes the shape of the cells. The normal haemoglobin called haemoglobin A (HbA) is replaced by HbS which later becomes
The first funding for sickle cell disease began thirty years ago the federal legislation dealing with sickle cell was accepted. This legislation present notab...
Sickle cell anemia is an inherited disease of red blood cells. Normally red blood cells contain a protein called hemoglobin A, which carries oxygen to all the organs in the body. With sickle cell anemia, however, the body makes a different kind of protein, called hemoglobin S.
...ds the promise of an even greater understanding of pain in the coming years. Their research offers a powerful weapon in the battle to prolong and improve the lives of people with pain: hope (1) .
Sickle cell anemia is a blood disorder that is inherited from both parents in which the body produces abnormally shaped red blood cells. In sickle cell anemia, the hemoglobin in red blood cells links together; resulting in the red blood cells to become rigid and a C-shaped. These deformed cells block blood and oxygen flow in blood vessels. Sickle cells deteriorate quicker than normal red blood cells, which results in anemia.
Sickle cell disease is an inherited disease where the red blood cells in the body are produced abnormally by bone marrow as crescent shaped red blood cells. Unlike normal red blood cells, sickle shaped cells are unable to deliver much oxygen to other parts of the body due to the abnormal hemoglobin. Sickle cell’s are stiff and sticky and tend to clump together between blood vessels that can cause pain, damage to the organs, and infections. If a child inherits this disease they can be healthy throughout their life or need special care. “In the United States, SCD is most common among blacks and Hispanics. SCD affects about 1 in 500 black births and about 1 in 36,000 Hispanic births in this country. SCD is also common among people with family from Africa, the Caribbean, Greece, India, Italy, Malta, Sardinia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey or South or Central America (March of Dimes)”.
Pain is universal and personal to those who are experiencing it. It is subjectively measured on a scale of 0-10 with zero being no pain and 10 being the worst pain ever. This can be problematic for patients and doctors because this score can be understated or overstated. Doctors will make quick decisions based on this score. Patients might feel not believed because only they can feel the pain. However, untreated pain symptoms may be associated with impaired activities of daily life and decreased quality of life. Pain is defined in our textbook, “as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage” (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2016, p 25). Actual pain is understood by most because there is an
Sickle Cell is a disease that affects many people in the world today. It is the number one genetic disorder in the United States. Sickle Cell is deficient hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is what functions in providing oxygen to the cells in the body. The sickle shape comes from the atypical hemoglobin s molecules. Hemoglobin molecules are composed of two different parts called the alpha and beta. The beta subunit of the hemoglobin molecule has a mutation in gene, on chromosome 11 which produces the change in the red blood cell shape causing them to die and not reproduce accurately. The change in shape causes the red blood cells to get stuck in the blood vessels and block the effectiveness of oxygen transport causing pain and organ damage to the body. This disease does not have a cure and some common treatments are used to help patients live with the disease. Some treatment options are antibiotics (penicillin) to prevent infections, blood transfusions, folic acid that help produces new blood cells. These are just some of the current treatments for Sickle Cell.
There are different types of pain which may be suffered by an individual with cancer, with some patients suffering only one type of pain, but others experiencing a range of all three types. Identifying the type of pain suffered is the first major step in ensuring effective treatment, as not all respond to different treatments in the same way (De Conno & Caraceni, 1996, p.9).
The problem is that sickle cell anemia affects about 72,000 Americans in the United States. Sickle cell anemia is an inherited disease in which the body is unable to produce normal hemoglobin, an iron-containing protein. Abnormal hemoglobin can morph cells that can become lodged in narrow blood vessels, blocking oxygen from reaching organs and tissues. The effects of sickle cell anemia are bouts of extreme pain, infectious, fever, jaundice, stroke, slow growth, organ, and failure.
Sickle Cell Anemia is a blood disorder which is passed down from parents to a child. Many people have Sickle Cell Anemia in the U.S and around the world. These people have a wide variety of symptoms, varying from semi-severe to life threatening problems while others live with little to no recognizable symptoms.
In a pain assessment, the pain is always subjective, in a verbal patient; pain is what the patient says that it is. Nurses must be able to recognize non verbal signs of pain such as elevated pulse, elevated blood pressure, grimacing, rocking, guarding, all of which are signs of pain (Jensen, 2011). A patient’s ethnicity may have a major influence on their meaning of pain and how it is evaluated and responded to behaviorally as well as emotionally (Campbell, & Edwards 2012). A patient may not feel that their pain is acceptable and they do not want to show that they are in pain. For some people, showing pain indicates that they are weak. Other patients will hide their pain as they do not want to be seen as a bother or be seen as a difficult patient.