Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsTypesSymptoms and ComplicationsCauses and TriggersPreventionTreatment

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

Types

Symptoms and Complications

Causes and Triggers

Prevention

Treatment

Painful episodes are treated with pain medication. Medication is also available to help prevent sickle cell crisis. Some people who have sickle cell disease experience frequent crises, and some people with the condition rarely experience them.

An illustration with potential triggers for a sickle cell crisis

Types of Sickle Cell Crisis

There are several conditions that are defined as sickle cell crisis, and they can cause sudden, severe, and sometimes dangerous effects.

The major common types of sickle cell crisis are:

Sickle cell disease has other health effects that are not considered sickle cell crisis, including anemia, a predisposition to infection, a risk of serious complications such as kidney and liver damage, andavascular necrosis(a type of joint damage).

Sickle cell crisis can cause a variety of symptoms. These are related to the organ that is affected.

Symptoms can include:

These symptoms can develop over the course of hours or days. You can have more than one type of sickle cell crisis at a time.

A sickle cell crisis can cause lasting damage to the body, which can worsen with more frequent episodes.

There are several situations that can trigger a sickle cell crisis. For people who have sickle cell anemia, these changes can make the red blood cells prone to forming a sickle shape, and may also cause changes in small blood vessels, making it harder for blood to flow smoothly.

Sickle-shaped red blood cells are not smooth like healthy red blood cells. Instead, they become sticky and prone to clumping together and blocking blood vessels anywhere in the body.

Triggers for a sickle cell crisis include:

TriggersIf you have sickle cell disease, you can also experience a crisis without a trigger, and you might not have a crisis every time you experience a trigger.

Triggers

If you have sickle cell disease, you can also experience a crisis without a trigger, and you might not have a crisis every time you experience a trigger.

Can You Prevent Sickle Cell Crisis?

Sickle cell crisis can cause substantial distress, and it takes at least a few days to resolve. Sometimes a sickle cell crisis can be dangerous. Preventive therapies can help reduce the severity and frequency of sickle cell crises for people who have sickle cell disease.

Prevention includes medical interventions and lifestyle approaches. Medical interventions that treat sickle cell anemia may reduce the frequency of crises and include hydroxyurea, L-glutamine, chronic blood transfusion, andstem cell transplant(replacing the blood-forming cells in the bone marrow).

Other potential treatments are being investigated in research trials, including anti-inflammatory treatments, Dacogen (decitabine) and tetrahydrouridine (increase hemoglobin in the blood), andgene therapy(replacing defective genes in stem cells).

Lifestyle approaches for preventing sickle cell crisis include:

If you have sickle cell disease, there is no way to completely assure that you will never have a sickle cell crisis, but lowering your risk is beneficial for your health.

What Are the Treatments for Sickle Cell Crisis?

In general, sickle cell crisis is managed symptomatically. Pain control is a major treatment focus.

If you are able to experience pain relief with over-the-counter (OTC) medication, your healthcare provider will let you know how much you can safely take. Some powerful prescription medications that are commonly used to treat a sickle cell crisis, such as morphine, can have severe side effects, includingprofound constipation.

Pain control is important, and your healthcare providers will give you prescription-strength oral or intravenous medication to reduce your pain if OTC pain medications are not sufficient.

Other treatments that you might need include:

If you need to be admitted to the hospital for your treatment, your condition would be monitored closely, and your treatment would be adjusted as needed.

Summary

Sickle cell crisis is a complication of sickle cell disease. There are several types of sickle cell crisis, and they occur when the sickled blood cells accumulate in small blood vessels. An episode can cause severe pain, shortness of breath, or organ damage.

Preventative strategies that involve avoiding avoid risk factors—like infections, cold, dehydration, and stress—can help reduce the risk of sickle cell crises, but they may still occur. Medication is also available to prevent sickle cell crisis. Treatment may include pain medication, blood transfusion, or oxygen supplementation.

A Word From Verywell

If you or a loved one has sickle cell disease, having a crisis can be painful and it can be harmful to your health. The more you learn about your condition, the better you can help control the factors that may lead to a sickle cell crisis.

Talk to your healthcare provider about a plan so you will know what to do if you begin to experience early symptoms of a sickle cell crisis. Consider joining a support group to meet with other people who are going through the same situation as you. You may be able to encourage each other and to help each other with practical tips.

7 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Jutant EM, Voiriot G, Labbé V, et al.Endothelial dysfunction and hypercoagulability in severe sickle-cell acute chest syndrome.ERJ Open Res.2021;7(4):00496-2021. doi:10.1183/23120541.00496-2021Cooper TE, Hambleton IR, Ballas SK, Johnston BA, Wiffen PJ.Pharmacological interventions for painful sickle cell vaso-occlusive crises in adults.Cochrane Database Syst Rev.2019;2019(11):CD012187. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD012187.pub2Osunkwo I, Manwani D, Kanter J.Current and novel therapies for the prevention of vaso-occlusive crisis in sickle cell disease.Ther Adv Hematol.2020 Sep 29;11:2040620720955000. doi:10.1177/2040620720955000Thuptimdang W, Shah P, Khaleel M, Sunwoo J, Veluswamy S, Kato RM, Coates TD, Khoo MCK.Vasoconstriction response to mental stress in sickle cell disease: The role of the cardiac and vascular baroreflexes.Front Physiol. 2021 Nov 4;12:698209. doi:10.3389/fphys.2021.698209Pfizer.Pfizer Voluntarily Withdraws All Lots of Sickle Cell Disease Treatment OXBRYTA (voxelotor) From Worldwide Markets.Food and Drug Administration.FDA approves drug to treat sickle cell disease in patients aged 4 up to 11 years.Bell V, Varzakas T, Psaltopoulou T, Fernandes T.Sickle cell disease update: new treatments and challenging nutritional interventions.Nutrients. 2024;16(2):258. doi:10.3390/nu16020258

7 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Jutant EM, Voiriot G, Labbé V, et al.Endothelial dysfunction and hypercoagulability in severe sickle-cell acute chest syndrome.ERJ Open Res.2021;7(4):00496-2021. doi:10.1183/23120541.00496-2021Cooper TE, Hambleton IR, Ballas SK, Johnston BA, Wiffen PJ.Pharmacological interventions for painful sickle cell vaso-occlusive crises in adults.Cochrane Database Syst Rev.2019;2019(11):CD012187. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD012187.pub2Osunkwo I, Manwani D, Kanter J.Current and novel therapies for the prevention of vaso-occlusive crisis in sickle cell disease.Ther Adv Hematol.2020 Sep 29;11:2040620720955000. doi:10.1177/2040620720955000Thuptimdang W, Shah P, Khaleel M, Sunwoo J, Veluswamy S, Kato RM, Coates TD, Khoo MCK.Vasoconstriction response to mental stress in sickle cell disease: The role of the cardiac and vascular baroreflexes.Front Physiol. 2021 Nov 4;12:698209. doi:10.3389/fphys.2021.698209Pfizer.Pfizer Voluntarily Withdraws All Lots of Sickle Cell Disease Treatment OXBRYTA (voxelotor) From Worldwide Markets.Food and Drug Administration.FDA approves drug to treat sickle cell disease in patients aged 4 up to 11 years.Bell V, Varzakas T, Psaltopoulou T, Fernandes T.Sickle cell disease update: new treatments and challenging nutritional interventions.Nutrients. 2024;16(2):258. doi:10.3390/nu16020258

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Jutant EM, Voiriot G, Labbé V, et al.Endothelial dysfunction and hypercoagulability in severe sickle-cell acute chest syndrome.ERJ Open Res.2021;7(4):00496-2021. doi:10.1183/23120541.00496-2021Cooper TE, Hambleton IR, Ballas SK, Johnston BA, Wiffen PJ.Pharmacological interventions for painful sickle cell vaso-occlusive crises in adults.Cochrane Database Syst Rev.2019;2019(11):CD012187. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD012187.pub2Osunkwo I, Manwani D, Kanter J.Current and novel therapies for the prevention of vaso-occlusive crisis in sickle cell disease.Ther Adv Hematol.2020 Sep 29;11:2040620720955000. doi:10.1177/2040620720955000Thuptimdang W, Shah P, Khaleel M, Sunwoo J, Veluswamy S, Kato RM, Coates TD, Khoo MCK.Vasoconstriction response to mental stress in sickle cell disease: The role of the cardiac and vascular baroreflexes.Front Physiol. 2021 Nov 4;12:698209. doi:10.3389/fphys.2021.698209Pfizer.Pfizer Voluntarily Withdraws All Lots of Sickle Cell Disease Treatment OXBRYTA (voxelotor) From Worldwide Markets.Food and Drug Administration.FDA approves drug to treat sickle cell disease in patients aged 4 up to 11 years.Bell V, Varzakas T, Psaltopoulou T, Fernandes T.Sickle cell disease update: new treatments and challenging nutritional interventions.Nutrients. 2024;16(2):258. doi:10.3390/nu16020258

Jutant EM, Voiriot G, Labbé V, et al.Endothelial dysfunction and hypercoagulability in severe sickle-cell acute chest syndrome.ERJ Open Res.2021;7(4):00496-2021. doi:10.1183/23120541.00496-2021

Cooper TE, Hambleton IR, Ballas SK, Johnston BA, Wiffen PJ.Pharmacological interventions for painful sickle cell vaso-occlusive crises in adults.Cochrane Database Syst Rev.2019;2019(11):CD012187. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD012187.pub2

Osunkwo I, Manwani D, Kanter J.Current and novel therapies for the prevention of vaso-occlusive crisis in sickle cell disease.Ther Adv Hematol.2020 Sep 29;11:2040620720955000. doi:10.1177/2040620720955000

Thuptimdang W, Shah P, Khaleel M, Sunwoo J, Veluswamy S, Kato RM, Coates TD, Khoo MCK.Vasoconstriction response to mental stress in sickle cell disease: The role of the cardiac and vascular baroreflexes.Front Physiol. 2021 Nov 4;12:698209. doi:10.3389/fphys.2021.698209

Pfizer.Pfizer Voluntarily Withdraws All Lots of Sickle Cell Disease Treatment OXBRYTA (voxelotor) From Worldwide Markets.

Food and Drug Administration.FDA approves drug to treat sickle cell disease in patients aged 4 up to 11 years.

Bell V, Varzakas T, Psaltopoulou T, Fernandes T.Sickle cell disease update: new treatments and challenging nutritional interventions.Nutrients. 2024;16(2):258. doi:10.3390/nu16020258

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