If the test shows the presence of sickle hemoglobin, a second blood test is performed to confirm the diagnosis. These tests also tell whether the child carries the sickle cell trait. Although there is no cure for sickle cell anemia, doctors can do a great deal to help sickle cell patients, and treatment is constantly being improved. Basic treatment of painful crises relies heavily on pain-killing drugs and oral and intravenous fluids to reduce pain and prevent complications. Blood transfusions are used to treat and to prevent some of the complications of sickle cell anemia.
Transfusions correct anemia by increasing the number of normal red blood cells in circulation.
Transfusions are used to treat spleen enlargement in children before the condition becomes life-threatening. Regular transfusion therapy also can help prevent recurring strokes in children at high risk of crippling nervous system complications. Giving young children with sickle cell anemia oral penicillin twice a day, beginning when the child is about 2 months old and continuing until the child is at least 5 years old, can prevent pneumococcal infection and early death in these children. Recently, however, several new strains of pneumonia bacteria that are resistant to penicillin have been reported. Since the vaccines for these bacteria are ineffective in young children, studies are being planned to test new vaccines.