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Sickle Cell Anemia Essay

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Critical Care Nursing: Sickle Cell Anemia

Critical Care Nursing

10/15/2009

Sickle cell anemia affects millions of people worldwide. Sickle cell anemia is a disease in which your body produces abnormally shaped red blood cells. They don't last as long as normal, round red blood cells, which leads to anemia. Sickle cells contain abnormal hemoglobin that causes the cells to have a sickle shape. Sickle-shaped cells don’t move easily through your blood vessels. They’re stiff and sticky and tend to form clumps and get stuck in the blood vessels. The sickle cells also get stuck in blood vessels, blocking blood flow. This can cause pain and organ damage. Sickle cell disease is caused by a mutation in the …show more content…

Hand-foot syndrome may be the first sign of sickle cell anemia in infants. Hypoplastic/aplastic crisis: May be secondary to severe (usually viral) infection or folic acid deficiency, resulting in cessation of production of RBCs and bone marrow. Both children and adults who have sickle cell anemia have a hard time fighting infections. This is because sickle cell anemia can damage the spleen. During a Splenic Crisis sickled cells get trapped in the spleen. This causes the spleen to enlarge and leads to anemia and causes it to not work properly. If this happens, the patient may need blood transfusions until their body can make more cells and recover. Infants and young children who have damaged spleens are more likely to get infections that can kill them. Pneumonia is the most common cause of death in young children who have sickle cell anemia. Meningitis, influenza, and hepatitis are other infections that are common in people who have sickle cell anemia. In Hyperhemolytic crisis: Reticulocytes are increased in peripheral blood; and bone marrow is hyperplastic. It is characterized by anemia and jaundice. Sequestration crisis (more commonly occurs in infants): Massive, sudden erythrostasis with pooling of blood in the viscera (splenomegaly), resulting in hypovolemic shock/possible death. This crisis occurs in patients with intact splenic function. There are many complications of

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