How long are coma patients kept alive?

Coma
Specialty	Neurology, psychiatry
Symptoms	Unconsciousness
Complications	Persistent vegetative state, death
Duration	Can vary from a few days to several years (longest recorded is 42 years)

Do most coma patients die?

Although many people gradually recover from a coma, others enter a vegetative state or die. Some people who recover from a coma end up with major or minor disabilities. Complications can develop during a coma, including pressure sores, urinary tract infections, blood clots in the legs and other problems.

Do people in a coma starve?

Because patients who are in a coma can’t eat or drink on their own, they receive nutrients and liquids through a vein or feeding tube so that they don’t starve or dehydrate. Coma patients may also receive electrolytes — salt and other substances that help regulate body processes.

How does it feel to be brain dead?

Brain death is a clinical and legal definition of death. 1 Sometimes, when a person is declared brain dead, their heart may still be still beating and their chest may rise and fall with every breath from the ventilator. The skin might be warm and a person who is brain dead may appear to be resting.

What is the average length of a coma?

Some people become fully conscious and are able to resume a normal life, while others may spend the rest of their lives in a coma. According to the How Stuff Works website, a coma is typically not going to last more than two to four weeks. A patient will start to regain awareness over a gradual period of time.

What was it like being in a coma for 9 months?

She was in a coma for 9 months. She was in what is called a waking coma. She retained normal periods of sleep and open eyed wakefulness, but no higher brain functions. Here are some things about her experience. She doesn’t have any memories of the year prior or the year and a halfish after her coma and obviously no memories of the car crash.

Does a coma affect your memory?

The answer is “No.” There is a huge hole in my memory beginning about two weeks before the coma through a week after “waking up.” And waking up is in quotes because I would wake up, ask a bunch of semi-incoherent questions, fall back under, then wake up again and ask the exact same questions, in the exact same order.

Why would someone be put in a chemically induced coma?

“After being in a really bad accident that left one of my good friends (the driver) brain dead, they put me into a chemically induced coma for under a week to prevent brain damage due to swelling. When I first woke up, my memory was much better than it was as it gradually faded in the days to come.

What’s the history of IV therapy?

A couple of decades later, IVs switched over to the plastic bag we use today. Interestingly, it wasn’t until the 1940s that a nurse was allowed to administer IV therapy (until that time, only doctors were permitted to do so). These days, nurses are the ones who typically handle IV therapy for patients.