As people recover from severe brain injury, they usually pass through various phases of recovery. Recovery can stop in any of those steps. Coma and vegetative state are such two phases in the recovery of TBI. This article talks about determining the prognosis for comatose children. Coma is a transient state from which an affected child may recover, die, or pass into a persistent vegetative or minimally conscious state.
Coma usually last no more than two to four weeks. On the other hand, a vegetative state is said to have the poorest prognosis if it continues for 12 months post traumatic injury and 3 months post non-traumatic injury. Accurate differentiation of minimally conscious patients from vegetative patients requires repeated assessments by an experienced multidisciplinary team and different imaging investigations like functional MRI and PET studies. The prognosis in coma is…
