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Hi, it’s Patrik Hutzel from INTENSIVECAREHOTLINE.COM , where we instantly improve the lives of Families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care, so that you can have PEACE OF MIND, real power, real control and so that you can influence decision making, even if you’re not a doctor or a nurse in Intensive Care!
This is another episode of “YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED” and in last week’s episode I answered the question
“Why do doctors in Intensive Care insert a Tracheostomy after an induced coma?”
if you haven’t read, watched or listened to the episode you can click on it here.
In this week’s episode of “YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED” I want to look at
“HOW LONG WILL MY CRITICALLY ILL LOVED ONE IN AN INDUCED COMA FOR AFTER A BRAIN OR HEAD INJURY?”
Head or brain injuries are difficult to manage from an emotional and from a clinical point of view
Head or brain injuries are generally difficult to manage and difficult to deal with on all levels, whether it be from an emotional point of view for a Family and they also tend to be difficult to manage from a clinical perspective for the Intensive Care team.
The reason for the issues surrounding head or brain injuries, are generally speaking that the brain and the head have a life on their own.
In comparison, other major organs such as the heart, the lungs, the liver and the kidneys can be controlled if they stop functioning or working properly at least temporarily. Those organs can also be removed and can be replaced by donor organs. That’s not the case with the brain.
The brain has a life on its own
The brain on the other hand is very difficult to control, especially with severe head or brain injuries and as we all know, the brain has a life on its own. It’s not an organ such as the heart or the lungs that has a clearly and relatively easy defined purpose (heart= pump blood and lungs= breathe in and out).
It doesn’t work that way with the brain as it is an organ that is just too complex in its very nature.
If your critically ill loved one has been admitted to Intensive Care with a severe head or brain injury, you will most likely find that your critically ill loved one is in an induced coma and is on a breathing machine(ventilator or respirator).
Furthermore, you might see all those coloured numbers on the screen of the bedside monitor where your critically ill loved one has been connected to. One of those numbers on the screen is most likely the intracranial pressure(pressure in the brain) that is constantly being measured.
Elevated and raised pressures in the brain are the reason for the induced coma
Depending on the nature and the severity of your critically ill loved one’s head or brain injury and also depending on whether there is bleeding evident or ongoing in the brain, the pressures in the brain of your critically ill loved one are most likely to be elevated and raised. Raised and elevated brain pressures are extremely dangerous, because it can lead to irreversible brain damage due to lack of oxygen supply. If the intracranial brain pressure(pressure in the brain) is elevated and raised it needs to be managed and the pressure needs to be reduced quickly so that no further damage is done to the brain.
Now, if your critically ill loved one wasn’t in an induced coma and ventilated, those brain pressures would be hard to manage if they were elevated and raised. Because of the induced coma, your critically ill loved one is getting intravenous sedative and opiate(pain killers) drugs such as Propofol, Midazolam, Fentanyl, Morphine or even Thiopental(a sedative generally only used for head or brain injuries). By having your critically ill loved one in an induced coma minimizes and reduces the risk that brain pressures are getting high in the first place. Imagine your loved one was “awake” and would cough, move and would be restless, chances that brain pressures would rise and cause irreversible brain damage would be extremely high.
Therefore a calm, quiet and unconscious state, induced by a coma is the best option to control and manage the brain pressure and brain or head injury.
Once the brain pressures are controlled and stable, that’s generally speaking the time, when your critically ill loved one can be slowly woken up out of the induced coma.
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How long for the induced coma before your loved one can be woken up?
So the timeframe for an induced coma with severe head or brain injuries can take from a few days to a few weeks. It all depends on how stable or unstable the brain pressures are and it also depends on any other injuries that your critically ill loved one may have sustained. Some other injuries sustained such as rip fractures, HIP/ Pelvis fractures, spinal fractures may require some form of sedation as well.
But as soon as the brain pressures are under control and normal, that would be the time for your critically ill loved one to be woken up from the induced coma.
I hope that this episode helped and clarified your questions about the induced coma and head or brain injuries.
How can you leverage your level of power, influence and control whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care?
You’ll get to that all important feeling of power, control and influence when you download your FREE “INSTANT IMPACT” report NOW by entering your email below! In Your FREE “INSTANT IMPACT” report you’ll learn quickly how to get real power and real control and how you can influence decision making fast, whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care! Our FREE reports help you with in-depth insight that you must know whilst your loved one is critically ill or is dying in Intensive Care! Sign up for your FREE membership and download your FREE “INSTANT IMPACT” REPORT now!
In your FREE “INSTANT IMPACT” REPORT you’ll learn how to speak the “secret” Intensive Care language so that the doctors and the nurses know straight away that you are an insider and that you know and understand what’s really happening in Intensive Care!
In your FREE report you’ll also discover
- How to ask the doctors and the nurses the right questions
- Discover the many competing interests in Intensive Care and how your critically ill loved one’s treatment may depend on those competing interests
- How to eliminate fear, frustration, stress, struggle and vulnerability even if your loved one is dying
- 5 “killer” tips& strategies helping you to get on the right path to PEACE OF MIND, control, power and influence in your situation
- You’ll get real world examples that you can easily adapt to your and your critically ill loved one’s situation
- How to stop being intimidated by the Intensive Care team and how you will be seen as equals
- You’ll get crucial ‘behind the scenes’ insight so that you know and understand what is really happening in Intensive Care
- How you need to manage doctors and nurses in Intensive Care(it’s not what you think)
Thank you for tuning into this week’s episode of “your questions answered” and I’ll see you again in another update next week! Make sure you also check out our “blog” section for more tips and strategies or send me an email to [email protected] with your questions!
Also check out our Products section where you get more Ebooks, Videos and Audio recordings and where you can also get 1:1 consulting!
This is Patrik Hutzel from INTENSIVECAREHOTLINE.COM and I’ll see you again next week with another update!
Sincerely, your Friend
Patrik Hutzel
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