Background: Sickle cell anaemia (SCA) is an inherited condition in which the abnormal haemoglobin molecule under sickling under low oxygen saturation. This leads to widespread micro–vascular occlusion and tissue hypoxia, which may manifest as recurrent episodes of painful bone crisis. Hypoxemia is a common finding in patients with SCA; it is recognized as a marker for vaso–occlusive events, such as, acute chest syndrome, stroke and recurrent painful crisis.

Aims and Objectives: to compare the oxygen saturation of SCA patients in steady state with those in VOC, and to determine its relationship with some clinical parameters.

Materials and Methods: This is a prospective cross–sectional study involving 102 adults with SCA in steady state and 61 with vaso–occlusive crisis carried out between January to July 2017. The oxygen saturation was recorded using afinger pulse oximeter (Suaoki, Model FS20A).

Results: There was significant difference between the pulse rate (p=0.005) and systolic blood pressure (p=0.02) of the VOC group compared with the steady state group. The mean SpO₂ level for subjects was 94.4% (±4.04), and was significantly lower when compared with the mean SpO₂ level for the Controls of 95.7% (±3.8)(p=0.04). There was significant correlation between SpO₂ and age only amongst the subjects group; otherwise there was no correlation between SpO₂ and other measured clinical parameters in both subjects and control group.

Conclusion:

 A high prevalence of hypoxemia was observed during vaso–occlusive crisis compared to the steady state. Routine monitoring of SpO₂ is recommended, as it will provide data on the consistency of patients SpO₂ measurements and allows for comparison during acute illness.