Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a hemoglobinopathy which results in a shortened lifespan, anemia and acute and painful exacerbations of disease known as sickle cell crises. These crises require rapid identification and administration of analgesia for a prompt and effective management. Recent studies indicate poor adherence to recommended guidelines for sickle cell patients in a crisis, which is leading to poor patient care in the ER and in inpatient settings. The proposed study involves a 10 year review of participating institutions in South Western Ontario which seeks to perform a retrospective chart review of pediatric patients admitted to hospital for sickle cell crises between January 2013 to December 2023. The study aims to assess adequacy and promptness of care in the acute management of sickle cell crises in pediatric sickle cell patients within the participating institutions. We anticipate that our project will offer insights into areas where better adherence to recommended guidelines could enhance care for pediatric patients with SCD.

Our project seeks to understand previous algorithms of care for pediatric patients in SCC in community hospitals in the last 10 years in order to evaluate the adequacy of prompt, adequate and guideline-adherent care for pediatric patients experiencing SCC. We anticipate that our project will provide insights on areas where stricter adherence to recommended guidelines will improve care for pediatric patients with SCD.