What is induced coma?

Question

Hello doctor,

My colleague's daughter recently had a traumatic brain injury from a skiing accident and is now on life support. The doctors mentioned something about putting her in an induced coma with medication. My colleague is struggling with this and does not understand why it is necessary. The burden on the family is enormous, both emotionally and financially. Can you explain why an induced coma might be part of the treatment for a traumatic brain injury? How does it help the healing process? I want to be able to reassure my colleague that this is beneficial for her daughter's recovery. Any advice on how to support her during this tough time would be really helpful.

Please help.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I am so sorry for what has happened to your colleague's daughter. I am sure you understand that it is not easy and exact to describe or explain medical decisions without seeing the patient, her clinical condition, medical images, and laboratory tests. Therefore, I can just guess the reason for their decisions, based on the possible common scenarios. In the realm of neurology and neurosurgery, such decisions are made usually in two scenarios: 1- notable brain edema 2-intractable seizure activity.

After a while following a notable brain insult, the injured area will swell. Such swelling can put pressure on other healthy brain parts and cause more injury and in a negative circle more swelling. Finally, brain edema can cause herniation and injury of all brain segments which can be lethal. In such cases, induction of deep coma will decrease the activity of neurons, lower metabolic activity, lesser need for oxygen, lesser biological or toxic production, and help to alleviate the swelling. In cases of intractable seizures, brain cells trap in a circle of uncontrolled firing of neuronal electric impulses that can be lethal. Again, induction of deep coma can turn them off and let them recover. I am not sure what is the reason for your colleague's daughter's medical team, but the above-mentioned examples are the most common scenarios.

I hope this helps.

Thank you.