Interpregnancy management for women with sickle cell disease: A systematic review

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a haemoglobin disorder associated with painful sickle cell crises and haemolytic anaemia. SCD affects millions of individuals worldwide, with a significant impact on pregnant women and children. However, there is currently a lack of information regarding appropriate care postpartum and between pregnancies that could potentially reduce the risk of morbidity and mortality. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of medication and transfusion management for women with SCD during the interpregnancy period.

Types of eligible study include randomized controlled trials (RCTs), cluster-RCTs, quasi-experimental studies (or non-randomized clinical trials) and prospective and retrospective cohort studies. We conducted a systematic search for relevant published articles from PubMed, CENTAL, Scopus, CINAHL and Embase databases from inception to 6 December 2023, with no limitations. The study protocol was published in PROSPERO.

A total of 7888 citations were identified in the search (following deduplication). However, none of the studies met the inclusion criteria after the selection process (title and abstract screening and full-text evaluation).

There is no direct evidence to indicate the effectiveness and safety of medication and transfusion management for women with SCD during the interpregnancy period.

CRD42023460798.