Coma after a stroke: the consequences and chances of recovery

1 Features of the

status A coma after a stroke is noted in 80 people out of a thousand. This state of the body is not often manifested and is characterized as severe. After diving into a kind of dream, a person loses the basic manifestations of vitality, only reflexes remain-respiratory and swallowing. If there is a coma after a stroke, the following symptoms are noted:

1. Absolute loss of consciousness, which in its principle resembles immersion in sleep.
2. No response to pathogens from outside, such as bright light, loud sound, tactile contacts. Even if a person is hurt, his body does not react. But with moderate respiratory activity, pupils show a reaction to light.
3. A person can not eat food himself, can not control urination and defecation. A swallowing reflex is preserved, but only if a brain coma is diagnosed, in other situations a person feeds through a special probe and intravenous glucose injections.

This condition can occur for various reasons. One of them is the ailment preceding coma, a stroke. If the stroke is hemorrhagic, a coma may occur in a short period of time, if the stroke is ischemic, a person immerses in a coma from a few hours to 2-3 days.

2 The main signs of the pathology

Instant coma is determined by such manifestations:

1. Confusion, delusional state.
2. Inconsistent and too quiet speech.
3. A few minutes after the person has undergone a coma, the reaction to stimuli from the outside disappears, he seems to slowly fall into a deep sleep. During this often there is uncontrolled bowel movement or vomiting, the body becomes sluggish.

Gradual entry into a coma manifests itself by such signs:

1. A person has severe weakness, dizziness and severe headache.
2. Constant yawning occurs.
3. Speech confusion appears.
4. There are numbness of the limbs, when a person sleeps, the limb paralyzes.
5. The pulse becomes weak, the person often breathes, the skin covers turn pale.

This condition can go unnoticed to others, so it is very important after a stroke to constantly be near the patient, monitor his speech and condition.

3 Prognosis and odds on the stages of the disease

Depending on how long the coma after the stroke, how much brain activity has suffered, you can give a prognosis. To completely restore the activity of the brain, sometimes the countdown goes on for years. Often a complete restoration of the intellect does not occur, especially in the elderly. The companion of a person's life becomes constant forgetfulness, frequent headaches. The prognosis and chances of recovery can be determined only by the extent to which a person has undergone a coma.

At the first degree there is not too extensive damage to brain cells, the prognosis is favorable, and the chances of an exit are high. The condition called coma ends after 2-3 hours. After a person wakes up, he has only a slight inhibition of reactions, moderate drowsiness. Sometimes, if a person overstrains, he may lose consciousness. But this happens once. The chances for a full recovery in this case are high, the outlook is favorable, the recovery occurs within a short period of time.

In the second stage of being in a coma, a person is immersed in deep sleep, with noisy and intermittent breathing. There is no reaction to pain. The appearance of seizures. This condition can last dozens of hours, but the chances for a favorable outlook are great.

In the third stage of coma there is complete immersion in deep sleep, blood pressure drops sharply to critical levels, body temperature is greatly reduced, the patient requires artificial stimulation. In such a situation, the forecast is not very favorable, such a degree does not often end in a successful exit, it is rarely possible to recover completely.

With the fourth degree of coma, an impressive area of ​​the brain is being destroyed, it is not subject to recovery, there is no chance of awakening.

The longer a person remains unconscious, the worse the chances of recovery, the successful exit from the coma and its complete recovery.

This is due to the fact that there is a complete destruction of brain cells, there is a violation of brain functions. Further maintenance of life support becomes inexpedient, because due to irreversible changes the intellect does not return even if a person wakes up. When a person is in a coma, he needs certain conditions for the care and maintenance of his life support.

4 In what cases are the risks of high

? In addition to the severity of coma, other factors influence the prognosis and recovery. There is a high risk of death at such indicators:

1. Coma came after a second stroke.
2. The age of a person is more than 65 years.
3. Cramps of limbs that last for several days are observed.
4. There is no reaction to pain.
5. The death of brain cells began.

An accurate picture will be able to establish additional blood tests and a tomogram.