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Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: ICU Induced Coma Explained – Why It Happens and What It Means for Recovery

My name is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com, where we instantly improve the lives for families of critically ill patients in intensive care so that you can make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence, making sure your loved one always gets best care and treatment even if you’re not a doctor or a nurse in intensive care.

So today, I want to talk about the question I get all the time from families in intensive care, and that is what an induced coma is. Why does it happen and what does it mean for recovery?

So, let’s break this down.

An induced coma in ICU is not the same as a natural coma after a brain injury. This is medically induced with medications like Propofol, Midazolam/Versed, sometimes Phenobarbital, sometimes Precedex, also known as Dexmedetomidine, often combined with painkillers, also known as opiates such as Fentanyl or Morphine. The goal is to protect the body, reduce stress, and allow patients to tolerate life supports such as mechanical ventilation, or even ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation).

So why doctors use an induced coma? Why do doctors do this? There are several reasons.

1. To help patients tolerate the ventilator, and the breathing tube in the mouth sitting all the way back to the throat.
2. After major surgery or trauma.
3. To reduce brain swelling or raised intracranial pressure.
4. To control and manage seizures.
5. While on ECMO to avoid complications.

So, the coma is really about protecting the critically ill patient. But here’s the part families really worry about. What does this mean for recovery?

Induced coma and recovery

Well, if the sedation is short term, just a few days, most patients wake up fairly quickly. If sedation goes on for weeks, it can delay waking up, cause delirium, agitation, or weakness. And recovery depends on the underlying illness, of course.

Someone recovering from pneumonia may do very well, while someone with a severe brain injury may take much longer to wake up, sometimes weeks, sometimes months. The longer the induced coma, the greater the risks of infections, muscle weakness, and difficulty coming off the ventilator.

What families must know?

So, here’s what you as a family need to know. Always ask why a loved one is in an induced coma. Ask about the plan for sedation weaning and ask about the plan of opiate weaning. When will doctors and nurses in intensive care try to wake their loved one up?

Be aware of side effects and risks with long term sedation. Remember that waking up takes time. It’s not like in the movies. It is more like switching on a light with a dimmer than switching on a light with a switch.

And if your loved one needs long-term ventilation or a tracheostomy and is bound to stay in ICU long term, I encourage you to check out intensive care at home at intensivecarehome.com as an option instead of staying in ICU long term.

So, to summarize, an ICU induced coma, is a tool to help your loved ones survive critical illness. It’s done for protection, but recovery depends on the underlying condition and how long the coma lasts.

If you want to know more about how we can help you to manage those seemingly impossible situations in ICU, I encourage you to go check out intensivecareholine.com.
Go to our membership section, we have a membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care or call us directly on one of the numbers on the top of our website or send us an email to support at intensivecareholine.com.

I also encourage you to check out intensivecarehome.com if your loved one needs long term intensive care and wants to go home and I will also link to a video, one of our most popular videos actually – how long does it take to wake up after an induced coma, tying right in with the topic today.

I have worked in critical care nursing for 25 years in three different countries where I worked as a nurse manager for over 5 years in intensive care. I’ve been consulting and advocating for families in intensive care since 2013 here at intensivecarehotline.com. I can very confidently say that we have saved many lives with our consulting and advocacy because of our insights. You can verify that on our testimonial section at intensivecarehotline.com. You can verify it on our intensivecarehotline.com podcast section where we have done client interviews because our advice is absolutely life changing.

The biggest challenge for families in intensive care is simply that they don’t know what they don’t know. They don’t know what to look for. They don’t know what questions to ask. They don’t know their rights, and they don’t know how to manage doctors and nurses in intensive care.

That’s why we help you to improve your life instantly, making sure you make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence, making sure your loved one gets best care and treatment always. That’s why you can join a growing number of members and clients that we have helped over the years, saving their loved ones’ lives.

That’s why I do one on one consulting and advocacy over the phone, Zoom, WhatsApp, whichever medium works best for you. I talk to you and your families directly. I handhold you through this once in a lifetime situation that you simply cannot afford to get wrong. When I talk to families directly, I also talk to doctors and nurses directly, asking all the questions that you haven’t even considered asking but must be asked when you have a loved one critically ill in intensive care.

I also represent you in family meetings with intensive care teams.

We also do medical record reviews in real time so that you can get a second opinion in real time. We also do medical record reviews after intensive care if in case you have unanswered questions, if you need closure, or if you are suspecting medical negligence.

We also have a membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care, and you can become a member if you go to intensivecarehotline.com, if you click on the membership link, or if you go to intensivecaresupport.org directly. In the membership, you have access to me and my team, 24 hours a day, in the membership area and via email, and we answer all questions intensive care related. In the membership, you also have exclusive access to 21 eBooks and 21 videos that I have personally written and recorded. All of that will help you to improve your life instantly, make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power and influence, making sure your loved one gets best care and treatment always.

All of that you get at intensivecarehotline.com. Call us on one of the numbers on the top of our website or simply send us an email to [email protected] with your questions.

If you like my videos, subscribe to my YouTube channel for regular updates for families in intensive care. Click the like button, click the notification bell, share the video with your friends and families, and comment below what you want to see next, what questions and insights you have from this video.

I also do a weekly YouTube live where I answer your questions live on the show. You will get notification for the YouTube live if you are a subscriber to my YouTube channel or my intensivecarehotline.com email newsletter at intensivecarehotline.com.

Thank you so much for watching.

This is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com and I will talk to you in a few days.

Take care for now.

I have worked in critical care nursing for 25 years in three different countries where I worked as a nurse manager for over 5 years in intensive care. I’ve been consulting and advocating for families in intensive care since 2013 here at intensivecarehotline.com. I can very confidently say that we have saved many lives with our consulting and advocacy because of our insights. You can verify that on our testimonial section at intensivecarehotline.com. You can verify it on our intensivecarehotline.com podcast section where we have done client interviews because our advice is absolutely life changing.

The biggest challenge for families in intensive care is simply that they don’t know what they don’t know. They don’t know what to look for. They don’t know what questions to ask. They don’t know their rights, and they don’t know how to manage doctors and nurses in intensive care.

That’s why we help you to improve your life instantly, making sure you make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence, making sure your loved one gets best care and treatment always. That’s why you can join a growing number of members and clients that we have helped over the years, saving their loved ones’ lives.

That’s why I do one on one consulting and advocacy  over the phone, Zoom, WhatsApp, whichever medium works best for you. I talk to you and your families directly. I handhold you through this once in a lifetime situation that you simply cannot afford to get wrong. When I talk to families directly, I also talk to doctors and nurses directly, asking all the questions that you haven’t even considered asking but must be asked when you have a loved one critically ill in intensive care.

I also represent you in family meetings with intensive care teams.

We also do medical record reviews in real time so that you can get a second opinion in real time. We also do medical record reviews after intensive care if in case you have unanswered questions, if you need closure, or if you are suspecting medical negligence.

We also have a membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care, and you can become a member if you go to intensivecarehotline.com, if you click on the membership link, or if you go to intensivecaresupport.org directly. In the membership, you have access to me and my team, 24 hours a day, in the membership area and via email, and we answer all questions intensive care related. In the membership, you also have exclusive access to 21 eBooks and 21 videos that I have personally written and recorded. All of that will help you to improve your life instantly, make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power and influence, making sure your loved one gets best care and treatment always.

All of that you get at intensivecarehotline.com. Call us on one of the numbers on the top of our website or simply send us an email to [email protected] with your questions.

If you like my videos, subscribe to my YouTube channel for regular updates for families in intensive care. Click the like button, click the notification bell, share the video with your friends and families, and comment below what you want to see next, what questions and insights you have from this video.

I also do a weekly YouTube live where I answer your questions live on the show. You will get notification for the YouTube live if you are a subscriber to my YouTube channel or my intensivecarehotline.com email newsletter at intensivecarehotline.com.

Thank you so much for watching.

This is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com and I will talk to you in a few days.

Take care for now.