Staying InformED: Top emergency Medicine pharmacotherapy articles of 2020

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medicine
• Pharmacotherapy
• Medical Literature Review

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 significantly impacted Emergency Medicine (EM) clinicians.
• Focus on pandemic management may have limited clinicians' access to essential pharmacotherapy updates.
• A need exists to identify and synthesize key EM pharmacotherapy literature from this challenging year.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and identify the most impactful Emergency Medicine (EM) pharmacotherapy publications from 2020.
• To provide summaries and commentaries on the significance of these studies for EM clinicians.
• To ensure EM clinicians remain updated on critical pharmacotherapy advancements despite pandemic-related challenges.

Main Methods:

• A modified Delphi approach was used to select high-impact journals.
• Publications indexed in 2020 within selected EM journals were systematically reviewed.
• Fifteen key articles, comprising eleven trials and four meta-analyses, were identified.

Main Results:

• Eleven clinical trials and four meta-analyses were identified as the most significant EM pharmacotherapy publications of 2020.
• Each selected study's findings are summarized.
• Commentary is provided on the clinical impact and relevance of these publications for Emergency Medicine practice.

Conclusions:

• This review consolidates essential EM pharmacotherapy research from 2020.
• The identified studies offer critical insights for Emergency Medicine clinicians.
• Staying abreast of key pharmacotherapy literature is vital for effective patient care in EM.