medically induced coma

18 years ago

How is medically induced coma accomplished?

Is it really the same thing as general anesthesia?

How is it different than a coma the body falls into by itself?

What does it do toward helping a person recover from say, post stroke brain surgery or collapsed lung with carbon monoxide poisoning (two cases presently very much in the news)?

Comments (5)

lazy_gardens
18 years ago
The "coma" is a deep anaesthesia. REALLY DEEP!

It minimizes the brain's need for oxygen, and (probably) because the brain has nothing to do but heal, people seem to heal better.
scryn
18 years ago
Also if someone is in pain they may do this to alleviate the pain while the person heals (burn patients)
Real comas can occur after a brain trauma. This means that pressure or something causing pressure could be pressing on the brain causing a coma. if you alleviate the pressure you can help the person. Other comas are caused by severe damage to the brain where parts of the brain that are the thought centers are damaged, while the brain stem, which keeps the body alive is intact.
Was the miner that was found recently in an induced coma? I thought he was in a coma that was caused by the lack of oxygen (so I guess, a "real" coma caused by damage to his brain because of lack of oxygen) I may be mistaken though.
-renee
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You have to understand, Joan was not just placed on life support when she entered the hospital. When she was first brought in she was placed into a medically induced coma. That automatically requires supportive care. It was thought the coma offered the best chance for her body to heal itself, if at all possible. While she was in the coma, there's no question that ICU care is necessary. The process of lifting the coma is done in stages and done slowly. At first there were signs that her brain was functioning. She did respond to a few simple commands. Tuesday the process was complete. At that point was when she was moved out of ICU. She never really woke and they knew she would not recover any further. She certainly did take someone else's bed in an ICU. And she didn't overstay her welcome. There seems to be an implication that she got preferential treatment. This was the same hospital that gave over an entire floor to Beyonce when she had her baby. These patients pay cash. No hospital can turn it's back on cash payments.paying. Reimbursement is all too low for the average patient.
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goodie2shooes
17 years ago
My daughter told me that she heard that germany had been successful in putting patients in medically induced comas for the greater (if not permanent) relief of pain for those suffering from chronic pains, such as FMS, neuropothy, migraines, and these kinds of distorders/syndromes. I am trying to find out AMA possible on this. I am old now, have had these issues since pre-teen years, which have progressed, and are a daily nightmare to me. Is it true that there is such a development in the medical community, and if so where? I am in so much constant pain, that, that at my age, I am very willing to undergo such treatments.
lazy_gardens
17 years ago
Goodie -
If there is a pain management clinic near you, get your doctor to refer you for an evaluation.
spunbondwarrior
17 years ago
I was, not too many years ago, involved in a horrifying car crash and after getting splattered all over HWY 64 was placed into an induced comatic state for 7 days, or so they tell me. At least they tried to keep me that way.... 4 days in and I sat up and extubated myself. Said what was on (LOL, more like said what was out of my mind) my mind and went back to lala land for another couple of days.

Lots of info at the link...

You should look into the NIH research databases too, excellent site with tons of info, if you take the time to learn about what it is you are looking for first.

You could always do a search using Turbo10.com and signifying which engines/etc to use. Most likely the most effective search engine currently available, but you gotta learn how to use it first... That should take 10-15 minutes at the most. Otherwise, Clusty.com or vivisimo.com are your best bet for finding medical information. And DMOZ.com too. Google has to be the worst way to search, especially if you are actually looking for relevant information and search results, in which case using Google is a big waste of time.

Sorry about the ramble, I just have some definate ideas on how to find "stuff". Having a wife who is a university research librarian helps too...

HAGD

Here is a link that might be useful: induced coma info

medically induced coma

Comments (5)

lazy_gardens

scryn

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