How long does a patient stay in the hospital for after a coma?

Generally, most patients at a hospital do come out of a coma. Typically, a coma does not last more than a few days or couple of weeks. In some rare cases, a person might stay in a coma for several weeks, months or even years.

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How long does it take for a person to recover from a coma?

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.

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What do doctors do when someone wakes up from a coma?

Providers might give breathing assistance, medicines through a vein and other supportive care. Treatment depends on the cause of the coma. A procedure or medicines to relieve pressure on the brain due to brain swelling might be needed. Emergency responders might give glucose or antibiotics through a vein in the arm.

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Why are patients in coma kept alive?

In some cases, it may be that the family believe that the patient would have wanted ongoing treatment regardless of their level of consciousness or prognosis. Alternatively, some family members may be hoping for a “miracle” recovery or are simply not yet ready to let go of a loved one.

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What are the stages of coming out of a coma?

Recovery from coma is a gradual process, starting with the person's eyes opening, then responding to pain, and then responding to speech.

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How long does it take to wake up after head and brain injuries in intensive care?

22 related questions found

How long can you be in a coma before brain damage?

Severe brain injury is usually defined as being a condition where the patient has been in an unconscious state for 6 hours or more, or a post-traumatic amnesia of 24 hours or more. These patients are likely to be hospitalised and receive rehabilitation once the acute phase has passed.

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What are the chances of recovering from a coma?

Severe injuries can cause permanent unconsciousness. Of people with severe injuries, 60% to 80% survive. Many of those who survive are completely unconscious for some period.

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Can someone in a coma hear you?

Can Your Loved One Hear You? During a coma, the individual is unconscious, meaning they are unable to respond to any sounds. However, the brain may still be able to pick up on sounds from loved ones. In fact, some studies suggest talking and touching a loved one while they are in a coma may help them recover.

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Is patient in coma living or dead?

In a coma, a patient is alive and there is some brain activity. Depending on the severity of the injury, recovery time varies and comas can be temporary or permanent. Patients in a coma might have brain stem responses, spontaneous breathing and/or non-purposeful motor responses.

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How long will hospital keep someone on life support?

There is no rule about how long a person can stay on life support. People getting life support may continue to use it until they either recover or their condition worsens. In some cases, it's possible to recover after days or weeks of life support, and the person can stop the treatments.

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Do doctors talk to coma patients?

Physicians may not talk to comatose patients for several reasons. Comatose patients do not seem to hear or respond. Speaking may not affect their clinical outcome; time spent with them takes time away from other, more "viable" patients.

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How long has someone been in a coma and woke up?

Annie Shapiro (1913–2003) was a Canadian apron shop owner who was in a coma for 29 years because of a massive stroke and suddenly awakened in 1992. Apart from the patients in the true story Awakenings, Shapiro was the longest a person has been in a coma like state and woken up.

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What is the difference between coma and comatose?

Being comatose is being in a coma, unconscious and unable to communicate, often for long periods of time. A bad illness or unexpected accident or injury — especially to the head — can make you comatose and trapped inside a body that isn't working.

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Can the brain heal after coma?

Nearly every coma patient who reaches the state of post-traumatic amnesia will make a functional recovery. In fact, patients who transition from a coma to a minimally conscious state within 8 weeks are most likely to transition to post-traumatic amnesia and regain higher functions.

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Do you lose your memory after a coma?

Post-traumatic amnesia typically occurs after a survivor wakes up from a coma, a period of unconsciousness. During this time the survivor may not be able to recall certain memories. This can last from a few minutes to a couple weeks, depending on the severity of the brain injury.

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Is coma progression to brain death?

Brain death is not the same as coma, because someone in a coma is unconscious but still alive. Brain death occurs when a critically ill patient dies sometime after being placed on life support. This situation can occur after, for example, a heart attack or stroke.

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Are people on life support when they are in a coma?

Patients in a coma caused by severe brain injury may look indistinguishable from someone in a deep sleep, except that most comatose patients cannot breathe on their own and need support from a ventilator, with a tube inserted into their airway.

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What is the difference between a dead person and a person in coma?

A person who is brain dead is dead, with no chance of revival. Coma: A state of profound unresponsiveness as a result of severe illness or brain injury. Patients in a coma do not open their eyes or speak, and they do not exhibit purposeful behaviors. Some patients need ventilators while others do not.

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How do you know someone is in a coma and not dead?

Closed eyes. Depressed brainstem reflexes, such as pupils not responding to light. No responses of limbs except for reflex movements. No response to painful stimuli except for reflex movements.

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Can someone in a coma cry?

A person may appear fine, but will not able to speak or respond to commands. Spontaneous movements may occur, and the eyes may open in response to external stimuli. Individuals may even occasionally grimace, cry, or laugh.

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Is being in a coma like sleeping?

Coma is a state of consciousness that is similar to deep sleep, except no amount of external stimuli (such as sounds or sensations) can prompt the brain to become awake and alert. A coma is a medical emergency.

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Can you talk after waking up from a coma?

On TV, it seems like someone in a coma wakes up right away, looks around, and is able to think and talk normally. But in real life, this rarely happens. When coming out of a coma, a person probably will be confused and only slowly respond to what's going on.

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What are signs of coma patient waking up?

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.

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How long is a coma life span?

The average duration of a coma is a few weeks. Those who remain unconscious for extended periods may enter a chronic vegetative condition or die. Semi coma stage is also a stage where it is not more profound than a coma; the patient can respond to stimuli, can groan, and mumble.

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What's the longest a coma can last?

6, 1941, 6-year-old Elaine Esposito went to the hospital for a routine appendectomy. She went under general anesthetic and never came out. Dubbed the "sleeping beauty," Esposito stayed in a coma for 37 years and 111 days before succumbing in 1978 — the longest-ever coma, according to Guinness World Records.

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