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One of the most painful and debilitating manifestations of sickle cell disease (SCD) is vasoocclusive crisis (VOC), an acute condition attributed to ischemia produced by irreversibly sickled red cells occluding the microvasculature.
To evaluate whether inhaled nitric oxide (NO), a powerful vasodilator, would improve blood flow during VOC episodes, investigators conducted a prospective, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial involving 150 patients who presented with VOC at 11 emergency clinics. Each participant inhaled NO or a placebo (nitrogen gas) via a face mask for 8 hours and then via a nasal cannula for up to 72 hours.
Time to VOC resolution (the primary endpoint), was similar between NO recipients and placebo recipients (73 …