ARGH! More on the Sickle Cell Crisis Controversy

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Just took Kaplan Question Trainer 4... thought I had the Sickle Cell Crisis figured out: hydration for prevention, oxygen for crisis. Wrong. The patient was admitted to labor and delivery, even, so I was certain that oxygen was necessary, for the baby. Grrr.... Kaplan still wants hydration.

Any new informed opinions on the subject? The topic eventually fell off the first page and was forgotten, but did we ever come to a conclusion?

Thanks for your help... sigh.

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I had the same exact question on the qbank question trainer! Then I had another question from NSBN and I got that wrong to. I am totally confused. Is it Fluids or oxygen which one first?

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LaCharity,and my Lewis Med/surg book from school both say Oxygen. It will be a never ending debate sadly.

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As with other questions of this nature, I would just make a decision one way or the other and stick with it.

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My vote is fluids. Not only because Marlene Hurst said it 10 times in the lecture lol. But if you think about Oxygen vs. Fluids. A deficit in either can cause sickling... but replacing fluid will stop sickling, and giving oxygen may reverse it. BUT...everyone agrees that it's VERRRRRRRY painful. They won't be breathing very deeply at all I'm guessing, and most of them will actually be given lots of narcotics I bet. So you can put 13589 L of oxygen on them, but if they aren't breathing deeply at all(probably gonna be crying their eyes out, shallow respirations)..they won't breathe that oxygen in very well. So my vote still goes for fluids, the end

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Specializes in LTC, Hospital, Mental Health.

We fought over this question in our Kaplan review. It is fluids. You need the fluids to expand blood volume and make the blood less viscous. This is just an example of a question that is trying to steer you away from always answering oxygen, oxygen, oxygen.

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Aha! I like these answers, thank you!

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