Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Jun:56:158-170.
doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2022.03.036. Epub 2022 Mar 26.

Clinical update on COVID-19 for the emergency and critical care clinician: Medical management

Brit Long  1 , Summer Chavez  2 , Brandon M Carius  3 , William J Brady  4 , Stephen Y Liang  5 , Alex Koyfman  6 , Michael Gottlieb  7
Affiliations
Review

Clinical update on COVID-19 for the emergency and critical care clinician: Medical management

Brit Long et al. Am J Emerg Med. 2022 Jun.

Abstract

Introduction: Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) has resulted in millions of cases worldwide. As the pandemic has progressed, the understanding of this disease has evolved.

Objective: This is the second part in a series on COVID-19 updates providing a focused overview of the medical management of COVID-19 for emergency and critical care clinicians.

Discussion: COVID-19, caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has resulted in significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. A variety of medical therapies have been introduced for use, including steroids, antivirals, interleukin-6 antagonists, monoclonal antibodies, and kinase inhibitors. These agents have each demonstrated utility in certain patient subsets. Prophylactic anticoagulation in admitted patients demonstrates improved outcomes. Further randomized data concerning aspirin in outpatients with COVID-19 are needed. Any beneficial impact of other therapies, such as colchicine, convalescent plasma, famotidine, ivermectin, and vitamins and minerals is not present in reliable medical literature. In addition, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are not recommended.

Conclusion: This review provides a focused update of the medical management of COVID-19 for emergency and critical care clinicians to help improve care for these patients.

Keywords: COVID-19; Coronavirus-2019; SARS-CoV-2; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest None.

References

    1. World Health Organization WHO Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic. https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019 Available at. (Accessed December, 2021)
    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html Available at. (Accessed December 21, 2021)
    1. Chavez S., Long B., Koyfman A., Liang S.Y. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): a primer for emergency physicians. Am J Emerg Med. 2021;44:220–229. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Johns Hopkins University and Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center. https://coronavirus.jhu.edu Available at. (Accessed January 17, 2022)
    1. Lentz S., Roginski M.A., Montrief T., Ramzy M., Gottlieb M., Long B. Initial emergency department mechanical ventilation strategies for COVID-19 hypoxemic respiratory failure and ARDS. Am J Emerg Med. 2020;38(10):2194–2202. - PMC - PubMed

Substances