Manual red cell exchange (RBCXm) in acute sickle cell crisis: A feasible modality in resource limited settings

This short communication highlights the significance of manual red blood cell exchange (RBCXm) procedure which is an emergency procedure for patients of sickle cell disease (SCD) in sickle cell crisis . To the best of our knowledge there is no standardised technique for performing RBCXm meanwhile, an automated method using an apheresis machine is either unavailable or is unaffordable. As a result, patients end up receiving top up red cell transfusions further associated with risk of iron overload, hyper viscosity and sometimes volume overload overshadowing the benefits of red cell exchange.