Ketorolac for Acute Vaso-Occlusive Crisis in Pediatric Sickle Cell Disease

Sickle Cell Disease is characterized by a point mutation that causes red cell polymerization and clinically results in pain events, called vaso-occlusive crises (VOC), and end organ damage. VOC is the most common reason for hospital admissions and ER visits in the SCD population. Ketorolac is an NSAID class medication widely used for pain. Ketorolac reversibly inhibits cyclooxygenase-1 and cyclooxygenase-2 and inhibits the formation of prostaglandins and thromboxane. Specifically, in the SCD pediatric population, Ketorolac was shown to provide adequate pain relief without the need for additional IV analgesics in 50% of patients presenting to the emergency department with VOC. Despite its potential benefits, adverse effects from Ketorolac at standard dosing include gastrointestinal hemorrhage, nephrotoxicity and drug-drug interactions, some of which are dose-dependent. Patients with SCD may be particularly vulnerable to acute kidney injury from nephrotoxic medications given the propensity for chronic kidney disease from ongoing anemia, hemolysis and inflammation. A retrospective review in hospitalized patients with SCD who received at least one dose of ketorolac found that higher doses of ketorolac was a risk factor for acute kidney injury. In addition, a case report on a pediatric patient with SCD showed irreversible renal failure and bleeding complications after administration of ketorolac, despite adequate hydration. The American Society of Hematology guidelines for management of acute and chronic pain in patients with sickle cell disease recommend a short course of NSAIDs in addition to opioids for acute pain management based on very low certainty of evidence. Several adult studies have suggested that the efficacy of ketorolac analgesia at 10mg is equivalent to higher doses (15mg-90mg) for treatment of various pain syndromes in the ED setting, post-operative and cancer pain. However, these studies excluded patients with SCD whose pain mechanism and pain thresholds may differ from these populations. The investigators propose a prospective, randomized, double blind clinical trial that will take place in the DCMC Emergency Department and Children's Blood and Cancer Center Hematology Outpatient clinic.