Developing an emergency department order set to treat acute pain in sickle cell disease

STUDY OBJECTIVE: Patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) have many emergency department visits because of painful vaso‐occlusive episodes (VOE). Guidelines recommend treatment within 30 minutes of triage, but this is rarely achieved in clinical practice. Our goal was to develop an order set that is being implemented in the ED to facilitate and standardize emergency care for SCD patients in acute pain from VOEs presenting to the emergency department (ED) in New York City (NYC). METHODS: Using a RAND/University of California, Los Angeles modified Delphi panel, we convened a multidisciplinary panel and reviewed evidence on how to best manage SCD pain in the ED. Panelists collaboratively developed then rated 202 items that could be included in an ED order set. RESULTS: A consensus order set, a practical how‐to guide for managing SCD pain in the ED, was developed based on items that received high median ratings. CONCLUSIONS: The management of acute pain experienced during VOEs is critical to patients with SCD; ED order sets, such as this one, can help standardize pain management, including at triage, evaluation, discharge, and follow‐up care. After implementation in NYC EDs, studies to examine changes in quality care metrics (eg, wait times, readmissions) are planned.