Screening and Impact of Neuropathic Pain in Young Individuals With Sickle Cell Disease

Abstract

ObjectiveTo assess the frequency of neuropathic pain (NP) and its impact in young patients with sickle cell disease (SCD).MethodsWe used the ID‐Pain (ID‐P) questionnaire and a bedside clinical sensory testing (CST) as screening tools for NP and performed sensory nerve conduction study (SNCS) for all the participants. The impact of pain was assessed using Patient‐Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) questionnaires and Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) SCD module.ResultsThe mean age was 12.4 years. The ID‐P questionnaire revealed that 20.5% of patients likely had NP, while 10 (34%) of the participants had abnormal CST, and only two patients (4.5%) had abnormal SNCS. On the PROMIS pain scores, the mean pain intensity score was 7.9 ± 2.0. Pain interference was the most affected domain in both patients and parent proxy reports (mean ± SD T‐score 63.4 ± 6.6 and 65.2 ± 6.6, respectively) which was worse than other domains including pain quality—sensory and affective, and pain behavior (median T‐scores of 47.8, 63.0, and 56.2, respectively). The mean global health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) score of the children was 50.3 ± 12.1 indicating poor quality of life.ConclusionWe report the utility of simple tools like ID‐P questionnaire and CST for screening of NP in young individuals with SCD.