How does a medically-induced coma differ from a natural coma? The body doesn't usually decide to enter a coma. A coma is a profound shutdown of brain function. It typically results from profound trauma, brain injury, a drug overdose, stroke—some very gross insult.
There isn't a natural analogue for [a medically induced coma]. Are there after effects? It's hard to sort out, because if you're going to these extremes you're already dealing with a very dire situation. If there are effects later on, it's an extremely difficult distinction to make whether it is an effect of the drug-induced coma.
People who do this are very mindful of watching and monitoring. They make every effort to only use this option for as long as they need to. David Biello is a contributing editor at Scientific American. Follow David Biello on Twitter. Already a subscriber? Sign in. Thanks for reading Scientific American. Create your free account or Sign in to continue. See Subscription Options. Go Paperless with Digital.
Get smart. Sign up for our email newsletter. Sign Up. Support science journalism. The experience of being in a coma differs from person to person. Some people feel they can remember events that happened around them while they were in a coma, while others don't. When visiting a friend or loved one in a coma, you may find this advice helpful:. Research has also suggested that stimulating the main senses — touch, hearing, vision and smell — could potentially help a person recover from a coma.
Focus on pleasant sensations, 1 sensation at a time for short periods of time. As well as talking to the person and holding their hand, you might want to try playing them their favourite music through headphones, putting flowers in their room or spraying a favourite perfume.
A coma usually only lasts a few weeks, during which time the person may start to gradually wake up and gain consciousness, or progress into a different state of unconsciousness called a vegetative state or minimally conscious state:.
Some people may recover from these states gradually, while others may not improve for years, if at all. See the page on disorders of consciousness for more information about these conditions.
People who do wake up from a coma usually come round gradually. They may be very agitated and confused to begin with. Some people will make a full recovery and be completely unaffected by the coma. Others will have disabilities caused by the damage to their brain. They may need physiotherapy , occupational therapy and psychological assessment and support during a period of rehabilitation, and may need care for the rest of their lives.
The chances of someone recovering from a coma largely depend on the severity and cause of their brain injury, their age and how long they've been in a coma.
A coma is induced in patients who are at high risk of brain injury, either from physical trauma as in the case of Giffords, who was shot in the head in , a drug overdose, or a disease such as meningitis , rabies or status epilepticus a long-lasting and life-threatening seizure. In July , a year-old girl who was infected with a brain-eating amoeba known as Naegleria fowleri was put into a medically induced coma, which may be one reason she is one of the few people to survive the rare but often-deadly disease.
The purpose of a medically induced coma, Souter explained, is to ensure the "protection and control of the pressure dynamics of the brain. By reducing the electrical activity in the brain and slowing down the brain's metabolism, an induced coma can minimize the swelling and inflammation of the brain. Other options for reducing brain swelling include drugs like diuretics or steroids, draining excess fluids from inside the skull or increasing blood flow from the brain.
But when these other options fail to produce an adequate drop in brain pressure, a coma may be induced. Before a coma can be induced, Souter emphasized that it's critical the proper equipment and medical personnel be available. The procedure is initiated in an intensive-care unit ICU , where monitoring technology is available to support the airway and ensure that blood pressure, heart rate and oxygen levels in the blood are maintained at normal levels.
The drugs needed to induce a coma — usually propofol or a barbiturate such as pentobarbital or thiopental — are given to a patient by an infusion pump that administers precisely metered doses.
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