Top prescribed drugs in acute care include drugs for cardiovascular issues, pain, psychiatric presentations, and diabetes. In this talk, paradigms for common cardiac complaints, including hypertensive urgencies and emergencies, myocardial infarction, and hyperlipidemias, will be discussed. Regarding psychiatric medications and uses, protocols for the management of delirium will be examined, as will the use of common drugs for acute schizophrenia and depression. Pain management in the acute setting centers largely around opioids, but new guidelines indicate use of nonopioid adjuvant drugs and pain relievers. Synthetic opioids have posed a challenge as drugs of overuse and abuse; these drugs and overdose management will be considered. New indications for certain antidiabetic medications in the cardiovascular and surgical patient, as well as the ambulatory acute patient, will be presented. Acute care drugs span a wide variety of medical conditions and continue to be a dynamic area for the practitioner.
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