Symptoms and Signs of Coma

Coma Symptoms

The main symptom of a coma is unconsciousness. A patient in a coma will have no conscious response to external stimuli and may appear to be in a deep sleep.

The patient in a coma may exhibit spontaneous body movements. Patients may shake or jerk abnormally, and the eyes may move. If the coma is severe, even basic body functions such as breathing may be affected.

Coma Causes

Head Trauma

• Coma may result from significant traumatic injury to the head, such as from a car accident or fall.

Bleeding (Hemorrhage) into the brain or skull

Types of brain/skull hemorrhage include:

• Intracerebral hemorrhage: bleeding within the brain tissue
• Epidural hemorrhage: bleeding inside the skull, but outside the dura, (the covering of the brain)
• Subdural hemorrhage: bleeding inside the skull, and inside the dura, but not in the brain tissue itself
• Subarachnoid hemorrhage: bleeding in the space immediately adjacent to the brain tissue

Causes of brain/skull hemorrhage include:

• High blood pressure (hypertension)
• Cerebral aneurysm: a weak spot in a blood vessel of the brain
• Arteriovenous malformation (AVM): an abnormal cluster of blood vessels
• Tumors

Picture of the areas of the brain subject to injury

Swelling of the brain (cerebral edema)

Causes of swelling of the brain

• Infections
• Chemical imbalances
• Traumatic injuries
• Problems with the flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)

Lack of oxygen to the brain

The most common causes for lack of oxygen to the brain include:

• Heart arrhythmias
• Lung disease, including pneumonia,emphysema, or asthma.
• Anemia (low red blood cell count)
• Toxins

Poisons

• External poisons are those that are ingested or inhaled
• Internal poisons are by-products of the body's normal metabolism that for some reason cannot be excreted properly

Endocrine disorders

• Myxedema coma (hypothyroidism)
• Diabetes
  • Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)
  • Hyperglycemia (excessively high blood sugar)