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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Undergone Emergency Brain Surgeries, Is Sleeping And Looks Peaceful. What Could Be The Normalcy And Coma Signs?

Hello, my brother just had 2 emergency brain surgeries 24 hours apart. After the Firestone he regained consciouness and alertness within hours, however he sprung another leak in a different part of his brain. He has been out of surgery for 21 hours and has had no change, just sleeping and looks peaceful. He was traveling and there is quite a language barrier. Doctors said it was normal, but could not understand more. When should we expect him to regain consciouness and when should we worry that he went into a coma?
Fri, 5 Oct 2012
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General & Family Physician,  's  Response
Hi,

Welcome to HealthcareMagic forum.

The effects of anesthesia take times to wean off completely. The anesthetic drugs gets metabolized and excreted out of the body system - bringing the consciousness back to the patients.

The metabolising time varies individually and is proportional to the amount of drugs used, the duration of procedure and presence of other comorbid condition. At an average, during brain surgeries it may last for 6 - 24 hours. Further brain surgery causes brain edema which can cause drowsiness and sleepiness. In any neurological setup, the level of consciousness is documented using a scale known as Glassgow Coma Scale (GCS). Here the level is monitored between 3 and 15 - 3 being comatose and 15 indicate full consciousness.

I expect the medical staff to keep a track of his GCS score periodically. If his GCS score is periodically increasing, then I do not think there is something to worry.

Further if he is breathing on himself and not on a ventilator, it is a good indication that all is well.

Discuss with his treating doctors / medical staffs about these parameters. You can learn about his condition with these factors.

Hope this helps.

Best wishes for his recovery!!!
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Undergone Emergency Brain Surgeries, Is Sleeping And Looks Peaceful. What Could Be The Normalcy And Coma Signs?

Hi, Welcome to HealthcareMagic forum. The effects of anesthesia take times to wean off completely. The anesthetic drugs gets metabolized and excreted out of the body system - bringing the consciousness back to the patients. The metabolising time varies individually and is proportional to the amount of drugs used, the duration of procedure and presence of other comorbid condition. At an average, during brain surgeries it may last for 6 - 24 hours. Further brain surgery causes brain edema which can cause drowsiness and sleepiness. In any neurological setup, the level of consciousness is documented using a scale known as Glassgow Coma Scale (GCS). Here the level is monitored between 3 and 15 - 3 being comatose and 15 indicate full consciousness. I expect the medical staff to keep a track of his GCS score periodically. If his GCS score is periodically increasing, then I do not think there is something to worry. Further if he is breathing on himself and not on a ventilator, it is a good indication that all is well. Discuss with his treating doctors / medical staffs about these parameters. You can learn about his condition with these factors. Hope this helps. Best wishes for his recovery!!!