The effect of acute pain crisis on exhaled nitric oxide levels in children with sickle cell disease

Exhaled nitric oxide (FE(NO)) has been shown to be decreased in children with sickle cell disease. We sought to evaluate the effect of sickle cell vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC) on FE(NO) levels. We measured FE(NO) levels in 42 children with sickle cell disease, 29 in their baseline health and 13 during an acute VOC. There was no difference in FE(NO) levels between children at baseline (15.12 +/- 9.32 ppb) and those during an acute VOC (15.68 +/- 7.26 ppb; P = 0.794). FE(NO) is not a useful marker of acute VOC in children with sickle cell disease.