Case Presentation: A 32-year-old woman with sickle cell HbSS disease presented due to acute encephalopathy in the setting of recent admission for diffuse urticarial rash treated with steroids and diphenhydramine. She was found to be hypotensive, tachycardic, and tachypneic with development of fever soon after presentation. Chest x-ray showed left basilar opacities. She was intubated [...]

Case Presentation: 46 yo man with chronic pain due to T8-T10 compression fractures from renal osteodystrophy related to tertiary hyperparathyroidism in the setting of end-stage renal disease from sickle cell nephropathy had recurrent prolonged admissions due to uncontrolled pain to the point where the patient was unable to perform his activities of daily living. Traditional [...]

Case Presentation: A 25-year-old Black transgender woman receiving cross-sex hormone therapy (CSHT) with a PMH of multiple hospitalizations for HbSS sickle cell disease (SCD) complicated by acute chest syndrome, chronic left upper extremity DVT, and painful vaso-occlusive crises (VOC) was admitted for acute back and leg pain. She described the pain as constant, sharp, 10/10 [...]

Case Presentation: A 29 year-old woman with sickle cell disease (SCD) on hydroxyurea and L-glutamine, and mild intermittent asthma presented to our institution with right lower extremity and back pain suggestive of a vaso-occlusive crisis. She did not report fever, cough or dyspnea. Vital signs revealed a heart rate of 91/min, blood pressure of 126/86 [...]

Case Presentation: A 51-year-old African American man with history of methamphetamine use disorder, hypertension, and stuttering priapism presented with 2 weeks of painful priapism. Over the past 3 months, the patient had 4 other episodes of priapism lasting 1-4 days that were treated with multiple corporeal aspirations and intracavernous epinephrine injections with temporary relief. He [...]

Background: Patients hospitalized for vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC) frequently report dissatisfaction with pain management, which is exacerbated by variability in treatment approaches across healthcare providers. Negative provider perceptions, stigmatized language in the electronic medical record, and misperceptions of appropriate pain management are associated with undertreatment of pain, prolonged hospitalizations, and worse disease-specific outcomes. Effective management of [...]

Background: Patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) often face frequent emergency department (ED) visits and hospital readmissions, primarily driven by challenges in pain management, stigma, and system-level barriers. Existing interventions at the CU Division of Hospital Medicine, such as cohorting patients with specific teams, multidisciplinary care conferences, and implementing care plans for high-utilizer patients, have [...]

Case Presentation: A 26-year-old male with HbSS sickle cell disease and a history of recurrent hospitalizations for vaso-occlusive crises, requiring a right chest port for pain management and IV fluids, presented with sepsis and an acute vaso-occlusive crisis. Initial infectious workup, including chest X-ray, CT of the chest, abdomen, and pelvis, and urinalysis, was unremarkable. [...]

Case Presentation: A 17yo female with sickle cell disease (SCD; HbSS genotype) presented with pain crisis and acute chest syndrome. She was treated with appropriate antibiotics (ceftriaxone/cefdinir and azithromycin). During the first few days of her hospitalization, she required 2 pRBC transfusions for down trending hemoglobin (Hb) and low reticulocyte count. On hospital day 11, [...]