Why does a person not regain consciousness after surgery?
Patient's Query
Hello doctor,
My mother had a brain hemorrhage caused by an aneurysm. She had surgery a month ago and is in the hospital and was in a coma. Then after two days, she started to move her arms and legs and tried to move her arm to move the tubes. I felt she could look me in the eyes, and the day after, she was just sleeping without a response. The following days shifted between her being awake and not reacting to anything. It has now been two weeks, and she is not responding to pain or sounds as she did earlier in her treatment. She is, I think, in a vegetative state. The hospital wants to stop her treatment and it has only been two weeks. My question is, what is your opinion since she has been in and out of consciousness and now not responding. She is also breathing herself - she does not need the respirator. Her liver and kidneys are also slightly failing, but what could be the reason. They did scans, and the doctors could not see why she was not waking up. Could it be that she takes a long time? What is your professional opinion? I do not want the hospital to make a mistake and kill her if she just needed longer to wake up?
Please help.
Hello,
Welcome to icliniq.com.
I have read your concern and will surely help you out. See, there can be innumerable reasons for not regaining consciousness. Post-surgery it is very commonly observed. However, patients generally get conscious after two weeks post-surgery, which has not been the case. There can be metabolic causes as well, which are preventing her from getting conscious—for example, failing liver, kidney, sepsis, or infection in any other part of the body. These causes should be thoroughly worked up and ruled out before declaring the patient is not salvageable, as these are common causes of altered sensorium. However, there are causes related to the brain, but as you mentioned, all the scan reports are within normal limits. I will rule out the possibility of brain defects as of now. Now there is a concept termed brain stem death. If the brain stem death has occurred, then there is no use trying to salvage her. If the brain stem is still functioning, chances are good that she might recover. There are ways to detect brainstem death; treating doctors can check for them. Lastly, I will say it is your call. If you want to try harder, you should try; in the end, you should not feel guilt in life that you could have tried better. Give in all your efforts. It is ultimately your decision. I hope this helps.
Thank you.
Patient's Query
Hello doctor,
Thank you for the advice.
Same symptoms don't mean you have the same problem. Consult a doctor now!
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