Staying InformED: Top emergency Medicine pharmacotherapy articles of 2020.

The year 2020 was not easy for Emergency Medicine (EM) clinicians with the burden of tackling a pandemic. A large focus, rightfully so, was placed on the evolving diagnosis and management of patients with COVID-19 and, as such, the ability of clinicians to remain up to date on key EM pharmacotherapy literature may have been compromised. This article reviews the most important EM pharmacotherapy publications indexed in 2020. A modified Delphi approach was utilized for selected journals to identify the most impactful EM pharmacotherapy studies. A total of fifteen articles, eleven trials and four meta-analyses, were identified. This review provides a summary of each study, along with a commentary on the impact to the EM literature and EM clinician.

Thromboelastography utilization for dabigatran reversal in a patient with acute kidney injury.

PURPOSE: This case report describes utilization of thromboelastography (TEG) in the setting of an acute major bleed in a patient on dabigatran who had concomitant acute kidney injury. SUMMARY: An 80-year-old female presented to the emergency department after a fall with complaints of pain in her knee, shoulder, and hip. Her medical history was significant for coronary artery disease, for which she took clopidogrel 75 mg daily, and atrial fibrillation, for which she took dabigatran 150 mg twice daily. The physical exam was remarkable for pain within the shoulder, hip, and knee, which had swelling and ecchymosis that extended into the right thigh. Given the possibility of compartment syndrome with multiple possible etiologies of coagulopathy, TEG and computed tomography angiography (CTa) of the right lower extremity were performed. The initial TEG showed prolonged R time and activated clotting time, indicating clotting factor dysfunction with no additional coagulopathy noted, including antiplatelet effects. On the basis of the TEG and CTa findings, it was decided to reverse dabigatran with 5 grams of idarucizumab. Approximately 1 hour after administration of idarucizumab, the patient was taken to interventional radiology where a limited angiogram of the right lower extremity showed no active extravasation. Because of the patient's renal dysfunction and the possibility of rebound hypercoaguability, repeat TEG tests were ordered at 4 and 8 hours after the initial reversal to ensure clearance of idarucizumab-dabigatran complexes. The repeat TEG values showed complete reversal of the initial coagulopathy noted. During the admission, the patient required no blood transfusions or surgical interventions and all her initial laboratory results improved. CONCLUSION: Serial TEG testing was successful at managing multiple coagulopathies in a patient at risk for trauma-induced compartment syndrome.

Successful Use of Aspirin, Apixaban, and Viscoelastography in a Patient with Severe COVID Disease and Allergy to Porcine Products.

Coagulation abnormalities are frequently described in patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Common thromboprophylaxis and anticoagulation treatment strategies include the use of heparinoid therapy. We describe a 57-year-old woman with an allergy to porcine products that was started on apixaban for anticoagulation therapy given her allergy profile and need for venous thromboembolism prophylaxis. Apixaban and aspirin therapy were optimized with the support of serial viscoelastography and platelet function assays. Our patient experienced respiratory failure requiring intubation for 7 days but was successfully weaned to room air, tolerated a regular diet, and ultimately discharged to home after a 17-day hospital course. Here we report the safe and successful use of aspirin, apixaban, and viscoelastography for COVID-19-associated coagulopathy.