Changes

==Induced Comas==

==Induced Comas==

Sometimes doctors find it necessary to deliberately cause a coma in a patient.  The practice of using a '''medically induced coma''' to put the brain in hibernation so it can recuperate has been used for over a quarter of a century.  In the first several days after an injury, there can be swelling and other reactions that are part of the body's repair mechanism. But in the brain, those processes can be damaging, so when swelling is likely, doctors can decide to induce a coma by using sedatives to put the brain to sleep.  The patient's brain activity is closely monitored, and the level of drugs adjusted accordingly, to ensure the brain stays in a restive state until the critical window has passed.  The technique carries risks, though, so it is not used unless the likelihood of secondary injury due to swelling is significant enough to warrant the procedure.<ref>http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/10/health/main1195836.shtml</ref>

Sometimes doctors find it necessary to deliberately cause a coma in a patient.  The practice of using a '''medically induced coma''' to put the brain in hibernation so it can recuperate has been used for over a quarter of a century.  In the first several days after an injury, there can be swelling and other reactions that are part of the body's repair mechanism. But in the brain, those processes can be damaging, so when swelling is likely, doctors can decide to induce a coma by using sedatives to put the brain to sleep.  The patient's brain activity is closely monitored, and the level of drugs adjusted accordingly, to ensure the brain stays in a restive state until the critical window has passed.  The technique carries risks, though, so it is not used unless the likelihood of secondary injury due to swelling is significant enough to warrant the procedure.<ref>https://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/10/health/main1195836.shtml</ref>

==Links==

==Links==