Sickle Cell Treatments
The Lifespan Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center offers the latest treatments for sickle cell disease, many developed through tremendous advancements over the past several decades. Although sickle cell disease cannot be cured, treatment can significantly improve the quality and length of life for patients. Children with sickle cell disease can live relatively healthy lives and become productive adults.
Treatment Options
The center’s sickle cell experts provide a variety of treatments.
Prescriptions
Medications like penicillin, hydroxyurea, voxelotor (Adakveo), voxelotor (Oxbryta), and l-glutamine (Endari) can be used to treat sickle cell disease.
Vaccinations
The development of improved vaccines has contributed significantly to the reduced risk of serious infection for sickle cell patients. In addition to routine pediatric vaccines that are recommended for all children, the center recommends booster shots for bacteria that are specifically known to cause serious complications for individuals with sickle cell disease.
Blood Treatments
Blood transfusions are an important treatment that many sickle cell patients will require at some point in their lifetime. Blood transfusions are often necessary when patients develop acute or serious complications.
Bone Marrow Transplants
Bone marrow transplants are a complex, but potentially curative option for sickle cell disease that requires the identification of a fully matched donor. The bone marrow transplantation requires the delivery of intensive chemotherapy and immunosuppressive medications to ensure that the transplant is a success and requires an intensive and prolonged inpatient hospital stay.
Gene Therapy
Gene therapy is a new and exciting treatment that may also provide a cure for sickle cell disease. While research is ongoing and these treatments are not yet approved by the FDA for use outside of research trials, the preliminary results are exciting. Gene therapy uses a variety of techniques to edit genes to cure sickle cell disease. The process is similar to that described for bone marrow transplantation but a donor is not necessary.
Pain Management
Pain management is an essential component of sickle cell care that is individualized for each patient. It often includes the combination of over-the-counter medications such as ibuprofen and acetaminophen (Tylenol) with stronger opiate medications such as morphine, dilaudid, or oxycodone.