Greetings,

I am a perfusion student from NY.  I recently was involved in a case with a sickle cell patient. 

Upon doing research for my case, I found I had to do the following to prevent the sickling crisis from occuring.

1) keep the sweep higher (this will decrease the CO2 and make the patient more alkaline)

2) do not cool the patient (b/c lower temps can induce the sickling crisis)

3) avoid acidosis

4) plasma and platelet seperation prior to bypass

My question is......Is there anything else not listed that I should be aware of when handling the sickle cell patient??

Also.......If the sickling crisis does occur what are some early warning signs I could look for??

I would welcome any and all feedback.

TY

Joe