Why induced coma

That is exactly what doctors are aiming for in the case of a true medically induced coma, often using the same drugs or extreme hypothermia induced by exposure to a cold environment to halt blood flow entirely and permit surgery on the aorta. Shutting down function can give the brain time to heal without the body performing radical triage by shutting off blood flow to damaged sections. To find out more about such medically induced comas and the reasons why doctors employ them, Scientific American spoke with anesthesiologist Emery Brown of Harvard Medical School, co-author of the NEJM review.

What is a medically induced coma? So basically what happens with a medically induced coma is that you take a drug and administer it until you see a certain pattern in the monitor that follows the patient's brain waves, the EEG [electroencephalogram]. Patients with brain injuries who are in a coma have a similar pattern.

If that pattern is there, then you feel comfortable that the patient is in a drug-induced coma. You are doing it so that you can hopefully protect the brain. What are you protecting the brain from? If you've had a brain injury, what happens is the metabolism of the brain has been significantly altered. You may have areas without adequate blood flow. The idea is: "Let me reduce the amount of energy those different brain areas need.

But the main thing about a drug-induced coma, as opposed to a coma, is that it's reversible. If you do this to someone with a normal brain, they would come right out of it once you removed the drugs.

But it's used in the case of people with brain injuries. So what are the risks? Speaking generally, the main effects that these drugs have outside the brain is they reduce blood pressure. So people trying to do this are giving a lot of other medicines to keep blood pressure up and keep the heart pumping in a nice way.

You're protecting the brain on one hand and, on the other hand, all areas of the brain are not getting the blood they need necessarily. If you do this for an extended period of time, the drugs can accumulate and it may take them a while to wash out of the system as well.

As long as you're mindful of these things you can see someone through a period like this. How long is that period? It really depends on the injury, whether it's a brain injury or seizing. One patient was kept in [a drug-induced coma] for six months.

Obviously, that's the tail end of the distribution. It depends on how the person is progressing and the nature of the injury.

What the neurologists or [intensive care unit] doctors do is try to have them come out as soon as possible. In a case like Gifford's they have swelling. If they see the swelling recede, then they may try to lighten up the coma to see if she can come back and see what her level of function is. How safe are drug-induced comas?

A drug like propofol, we use this every day in the operating room. It is probably the most used drug in all of anesthesia. Every day essentially, when patients go under general anesthesia that whole state is a reversible coma. Back to Health A to Z. A coma is a state of unconsciousness where a person is unresponsive and cannot be woken. It can result from injury to the brain, such as a severe head injury or stroke. A coma can also be caused by severe alcohol poisoning or a brain infection encephalitis.

People with diabetes could fall into a coma if their blood glucose levels suddenly became very low hypoglycaemia or very high hyperglycaemia. You may find the following information useful if you have a friend or loved one who is in a coma. Someone who is in a coma is unconscious and has minimal brain activity.

They're alive but can't be woken up and show no signs of awareness. The person's eyes will be closed and they'll appear to be unresponsive to their environment.

They won't normally respond to sound or pain, or be able to communicate or move voluntarily, and basic reflexes, such as coughing and swallowing, will be greatly reduced. They may be able to breathe on their own, although some people require a machine to help them breathe. Over time, the person may start to gradually regain consciousness and become more aware.

Some people will wake up after a few weeks, while others may go into a vegetative or minimally conscious state. Read more about disorders of consciousness. Doctors assess a person's level of consciousness using a tool called the Glasgow Coma Scale on Headway's website. This level is monitored constantly for signs of improvement or deterioration. The Glasgow Coma Scale assesses 3 things:. Most people in a coma will have a total score of 8 or less.

A lower score means someone may have experienced more severe brain damage and could be less likely to recover. In the short term, a person in a coma will normally be looked after in an intensive care unit ICU. Treatment involves ensuring their condition is stable and body functions, such as breathing and blood pressure, are supported while the underlying cause is treated. In the longer term, healthcare staff will give supportive treatment on a hospital ward.

This can involve providing nutrition, trying to prevent infections, moving the person regularly so they don't develop bedsores and gently exercising their joints to stop them becoming tight.