Blood
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
A multicenter randomized controlled trial of intravenous magnesium for sickle cell pain crisis in children.
Magnesium, a vasodilator, anti-inflammatory, and pain reliever, could alter the pathophysiology of sickle cell pain crises. We hypothesized that intravenous magnesium would shorten length of stay, decrease opioid use, and improve health-related quality of life (HRQL) for pediatric patients hospitalized with sickle cell pain crises. The Magnesium for Children in Crisis (MAGiC) study was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of intravenous magnesium vs normal saline placebo conducted at 8 sites within the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN). ⋯ Changes in HRQL before discharge and 1 week after discharge were similar (P > .05 for all comparisons). The addition of intravenous magnesium did not shorten length of stay, reduce opioid use, or improve quality of life in children hospitalized for sickle cell pain crisis. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT01197417.
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In this issue of Blood, Brousseau et al report results from the Magnesium for Children in Crisis (MAGiC; #NCT01197417) trial. This multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial compared the effects of intravenous magnesium to saline in children with sickle cell anemia (SCA) admitted to the hospital for acute vaso-occlusive pain (VOC). Although magnesium was found to be ineffective, MAGiC illustrates an effective strategy for rapid and efficient patient accrual in pediatric SCA studies.