Massage for Pain Management in Patients with Sickle Cell Disease: A Review Study

Context: The most common side effect reported by Sickle cell disease patients is unforeseen and chronic pain crisis. A combination of pharmacological and non-drug treatments is suggested for managing pain in patients with SCD. One of the non-drug treatments is massage therapy. This study aimed to evaluate the use and effectiveness of massage in reducing pain in patients with SCD.
Evidence Acquisition: This study is a literature review of the period of 1990 to 2016. The search was done in databases and reputable sites including Medline, Cochrane Library, ProQuest, Ovid, Web of Knowledge, SID, Magiran, and Barakat using the keywords including massage therapy, pain, sickle cell, and patient. A total of 14 articles were selected for review.
Among 14 articles, five studies experimentally tested the effect of massage on reducing pain in patients with SCD, while the other nine studies only examined the rate of patients using massage and reported the rate of massage in the range between 5% and 79%. The results of the experimental studies indicated the effectiveness of massage therapy in reducing pain in patients with SCD.
Massage therapy is one of the most common types of alternative medicine used for patients with SCD. Studies showed that massage therapy could have a role in reducing pain in patients with SCD. However, more extensive studies are needed in this field.