Question about Comas?

Question

A person in my family suffered a coma after falling down concrete stairs, she has been in it for about 5 days now and is only expected to be in it for a total of 10 days. She was placed into it to have her brain stop swelling. The doctors say she is out of the critical time and she is doing better then before. But when she gets out of it what are the risks? Will she suffer permanet brain damage or what. Please explain...thank you for all who answer.

Answer 1

she's in a medicine induced coma, they do this to keep a patient from any strenuous movement, i assume they drilled a small hole in her crania and placed a small wire in around the outer brain in the fluid . the purpose of this is to monitor her intercranial pressures aka(icp) the average pressure they want her to probably be at is under 20. normal is 0-15 for us. it is good to monitor it cause this way they can quickly correct it before any more if any brain damage occurs. placing her head up at a 30 degree angle, less stimulation, pain medications, more drugs to keep her asleep. its like a bruise on the brain, just waiting for it to heal, time will tell. if they said she is looking better i also assume they are going off an improved cat scan result that is what will tell you if any permanent damage has taken place, but most mds are apprehensive to give a definate answer when it comes to the brain, it is still a very unknown and difficult to diagnose, the one thing we still cant transplant. risks, from taking her out of the coma are minimal with good doctors, as long as they are doing it when they feel she is stable enough. after they take her out of the coma they will start to wean the ventilator which will take a while. and thats really the only way they will be able to determine how much if any damage was done by having her follow basic commands. i probably made no sense but the moral is when they feel her icps are stable and wake her up you will know as well as them. i hope everything is well for you and your family.

Answer 2

The chances of recovery depend on the severity of the underlying cause. A deeper coma alone does not necessarily mean a slimmer chance of recovery, because some people in deep coma recover well while others in a so-called milder coma sometimes fail to improve.

The outcome for coma and vegetative state depends on the cause, location, severity and extent of neurological damage: outcomes range from recovery to death. People may emerge from a coma with a combination of physical, intellectual and psychological difficulties that need special attention. Recovery usually occurs gradually, with patients acquiring more and more ability to respond. Some patients never progress beyond very basic responses, but many recover full awareness. Gaining consciousness again is not instant: in the first days, patients are only awake for a few minutes, and duration of time awake gradually increases.

Comas generally last a few days to a few weeks, and rarely last more than 2 to 5 weeks. Predicted chances of recovery are variable due to different techniques used to measure the extent of neurological damage. All the predictions are based on statistical rates with some level of chance for recovery present: a person with a low chance of recovery may still awaken.

Answer 3

A neighbor had an aneurism, ( spelling??)and was put into an artificial coma gor 30 days.

When he came home from the hospital, he looked a little worn out, but within a few days he looked great, and had no problems.

Answer 4

Well it depends on how bad the fall was she may suffer from damage but no body will really know until she wakes up :-)

I hope that she feels alot better and is back to her normal self as soon as possible

I wish the best for your family!!
If you have any more questions feel free to ask :)

-kylee-

Answer 5

Honestly it sounds like time is going to be the only thing to tell. Was she deprived of oxygen? Until she comes out of it and more tests are done. Remember though when visiting that she probably can hear what is said to her so talking to her is important and not saying anything upsetting is important. I will pray for her and your family.

Answer 6

only when oxygen is cut off from the brain is when the brain will lose brain cells from starvation of oxygen.
an induced coma will not affect the brain at all, except they will be very tired when they awaken

Answer 7

there is no way to tell if she suffered permanent injury to her brain till she is out of the coma. till then, try to relax and pray. things may turn out just fine.

Answer 8

i now someone who was in a coma and came out just fine. it does take time for them eat by there self or walk but they will be fine.