Complementary and alternative medicine for children with sickle cell disease: A systematic review

Mohammed Alsabri; Christina Carfagnini; Mody Amin; Fiorella Castilo; Jeremy Lewis; Mohammad Ashkar; Mohammed Hamzah; Nader Mohamed; Mohammed Saker; Joseph Mahgerefteh; Rosemarie St Victor; Mario Peichev; Fernanda Kupferman; Kusum Viswanathan

doi:10.1016/j.blre.2023.101052

Complementary and alternative medicine for children with sickle cell disease: A systematic review

Blood Rev. 2023 May:59:101052. doi: 10.1016/j.blre.2023.101052. Epub 2023 Jan 30.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Pediatrics Department, One Brooklyn Health, Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center, 1 Brookdale Plaza, Brooklyn, New York 11212, USA. Electronic address: alsabri5000@gmail.com.
² Saba University School of Medicine, The Bottom, Saba, Caribbean Netherlands. Electronic address: c.carfagnini_037@saba.edu.
³ Internal Medicine Department, University of Buffalo, 955 Main St, Buffalo, New York 14260, USA. Electronic address: modyamin@buffalo.edu.
⁴ Pediatrics Department, One Brooklyn Health, Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center, 1 Brookdale Plaza, Brooklyn, New York 11212, USA.
⁵ Department of General Surgery, Saint Mary's Hospital, 56 Franklin St, Waterbury, CT 06706, USA.
⁶ New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine, Old Westbury, New York, USA. Electronic address: mashka01@nyit.edu.
⁷ Department of Pediatric Critical Care, Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital, Cleveland, OH, USA. Electronic address: hamzahm@ccf.org.
⁸ SUNY Downstate College of Medicine, Brooklyn, New York, USA. Electronic address: nader.mohamed@downstate.edu.
⁹ Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellow, Children's Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center/ Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA. Electronic address: msakr@montefiore.org.

PMID: 36775794
DOI: 10.1016/j.blre.2023.101052

Abstract

Background: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a popular alternative to opioid and other analgesics in sickle cell disease (SCD). We review the effectiveness, prevalence, and factors associated with CAM use in the pediatric SCD population.

Methods: The review protocol was created based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. A literature search was conducted in MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, PubMed, and Web of Science.

Results: Twenty-four studies were examined. The prevalence of CAM use in pediatric patients with SCD ranged from 36 to 84.5%. Common inpatient CAM interventions were yoga, virtual reality, and acupuncture, which decreased pain scale scores. Outpatient CAMs were consisted of cognitive behavioral therapy, massage therapy, and guided-imagery, which increased pain tolerability and decreased pain scale scores.

Conclusions: CAM modalities can decrease pain scale scores. However, the impact of specific CAM modalities on emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and school absences were inconclusive.

Keywords: Children; Pediatric hematology; Sickle cell disease.

Publication types

Systematic Review
Review

MeSH terms

Anemia, Sickle Cell* / complications
Anemia, Sickle Cell* / epidemiology
Anemia, Sickle Cell* / therapy
Child
Complementary Therapies*
Humans
Pain / complications