Papers of the Week

Sickle cell disease (SCD), one of the most common inherited disorders, is associated with vaso-occlusive pain episodes and haemolysis leading to recurrent morbidity, hospital admissions and work or school absenteeism. The crises are conventionally treated with opioids, non-opioids and other adjuvants with the risk of developing complications, addictions and drug-seeking behaviour. Different non-pharmacological treatments, such as transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) have been used for managing pain in other painful conditions. Hence, the efficacy of TENS for managing pain in SCD needs to be reviewed.