Many medical procedures are performed under general anesthesia. Anesthesia is needed in order to reduce discomfort and avoid the development of a shock state. After all, a typical reaction of the body to pain can adversely affect the well-being of the patient. In some conditions, artificial sleep is used.
What is a procedure?
This manipulation is also called drug or induced coma. The event is carried out for therapeutic purposes, in the process of treating some serious ailments. Artificial sleep is a rather complicated procedure. Despite the high health risk, a medical coma gives many patients a chance to return to a normal lifestyle. One of the common indications for the use of the procedure is surgery.
To reduce the sensitivity of the individual to pain, he is put into a state of sleep. Moreover, a person is not able to move. Patient consciousness is oppressed. To bring an individual into a state of artificial sleep, the following drugs are used in intensive care:
- Anesthetics.
- Painkillers.
- Tranquilizers.
- Barbiturates
The latter type of drug is the most common. In rare cases, the induced coma is provoked by gradually lowering body temperature to 33 degrees Celsius.
In what situations is the procedure performed?
Artificial sleep is used in the following circumstances:
- Swelling of brain tissue.
- Heavy mechanical damage.
- Long convulsive attack.
- A long period of rehabilitation after serious pathologies, injuries.
- Severe intoxication, severe surgery (for example, on the heart muscle), cerebral hemorrhage.
- Asphyxia in newborns, resulting from oxygen starvation in the womb.
A person in a state of artificial sleep is immobilized, unconscious, does not respond to external stimuli. Pressure ulcers may appear on the patient’s body. Every two hours, medical workers turn it over to its other side.
To carry out such manipulations, a person is placed in an intensive care unit. The patient is connected to a ventilator in order to provide oxygen to the body.
Symptomatology
What does resuscitation mean in intensive care? How is this condition manifested? After immersing the patient in the drug coma, he has the following symptoms:
- The rhythm of the heart slows down.
- The volume of blood vessels decreases.
- There is a lack of consciousness.
- There is a relaxation of the entire muscle tissue.
- Blood circulation in the brain is weakened.
- The activity of the gastrointestinal tract ceases.
- The body temperature decreases.
- The pressure inside the skull and the amount of fluid in the body decreases.
The duration of artificial sleep in brain injuries is usually several days (from one to three days). While the patient is in this condition, specialists are developing further therapy tactics. The procedure is used to reduce pressure inside the skull.
Potential Event Hazard
Medical coma is a treatment method that has its negative properties and contraindications. According to experts, the long-term use of this method negatively affects the functions of the central nervous system. In some cases, the state of artificial sleep is quite prolonged (from six or more months). This situation creates a danger to the life of the patient and can provoke complications. After this procedure, the patient needs constant monitoring by specialists.
In addition, he needs competent rehabilitation.
Conclusion from a medical coma
Such an event takes a lot of time. Doctors turn off the ventilator, and the patient begins to breathe on his own. Drugs that were given to him during artificial sleep are removed from the patient’s body. Being in intensive care after the procedure, the individual cannot return to normal life, as he is in a weakened state. Particularly difficult to recover are those people who have been in a medical coma for a long time. During the rehabilitation period, they again learn to move and serve themselves.
Complications
The likelihood of negative effects of artificially induced sleep is very high. Often in patients observed:
- Impaired myocardial and renal function.
- Heart failure.
- Sudden jumps in blood pressure.
- Pressure sores.
- Disorders of the nervous system.
- Infectious pathologies.
- Circulatory disorders.
One of the most dangerous complications is the gag reflex.
The contents of the gastrointestinal tract can penetrate the respiratory tract and cause serious pathologies. In some cases, there is a violation of the urinary system. This leads to rupture of the bladder and inflammation in the abdominal cavity.
If the patient's respiratory organs function poorly, after exiting the drug coma he has negative consequences in the form of pneumonia, tracheitis, bronchitis, and pulmonary edema. Sometimes patients have fistulas in the esophagus, severe disruption of the stomach and intestines.
Conclusion
This method of treatment poses a great risk to the health of the patient. However, thanks to him, many manage to recover and return to normal life. After an artificial coma, a person needs a long rehabilitation. After some time, all body functions stabilize. Some patients return to normal within twelve months. Others require longer rehabilitation. During the recovery period, you must regularly be examined and follow all the doctor’s instructions.