coma
Let an agent explain coma and its causes in neutral clinical terms, relay assessment scales, prognosis and related states from neurology sources, describe care in general, and route any situation involving an unresponsive person to emergency services.
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify
Researched by: Claude
Purpose and description
Let an agent explain coma and its causes in neutral clinical terms, relay assessment scales, prognosis and related states from neurology sources, describe care in general, and route any situation involving an unresponsive person to emergency services.
A state of prolonged deep unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond to stimuli and lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle, caused by injury to or dysfunction of the brain from trauma, stroke, lack of oxygen, infections such as cerebral malaria, metabolic and endocrine crises such as hypercapnic, hypoglycaemic, pituitary or thyroid crises, poisoning including alcohol, or induced medically; coma is a medical emergency assessed by scales such as the Glasgow Coma Scale and is distinct from brain death and from persistent vegetative and minimally conscious states.
What it is for: Not applicable; a clinical state.
It can be explain causes; relay assessment and states; describe care in general; route emergencies.
Distinguishing features
Unarousable
No sleep-wake cycle
Brain dysfunction
Emergency
What it looks like
Not a visible object; an unresponsive person with eyes closed.
Physical character
Glasgow Coma Scale range: 3-15 score - coma usually 8 or below
typical duration: days to weeks note - before recovery or transition
How it is recognised
Prolonged deep unconsciousness
Traumatic, hypoxic, metabolic, toxic, infectious and endocrine comas; induced coma
Brain death is irreversible loss of all brain function; vegetative state has wakefulness without awareness; sleep is arousable
Related models
is a kind of - in registry terms
is a kind of - in registry terms
is assessed by - and other scales
is contrasted with - an irreversible state
In practice
Families and kinds
traumatic coma
hypoxic-ischaemic coma
metabolic and endocrine comas such as hypercapnic, hypoglycaemic, pituitary and thyroid crises
toxic comas including alcohol and drug overdose
infectious comas such as cerebral malaria
medically induced coma
Identifiers
ICD-11 MB20.1 coma
MeSH D003128 coma
Standards and regulation
Emergency and intensive care guidelines
Brain death determination standards
Laws on consent and advance directives
Failure modes and hazards
Delay in calling emergency services
Agents giving personal medical or prognostic advice
Confusing coma with brain death or vegetative state
Also called
Where this came from
wikidata · CC0 1.0
Also registered as vr.tr.coma-object
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions.
Help Emergency first.
Safety.
Emergency
Unresponsive person.
Emergency
Emergency.
- What should a bystander do for an unresponsive person, starting with calling emergency services and checking breathing? action
- Is the user with an unresponsive person now, which means calling emergency services immediately? boundary
Families
Families.
Families
Families.
- What support and information do families of patients in coma receive from care teams? provenance
- Is the user asking about a specific patient, which needs the treating team? boundary
Understand The state.
Clinical.
Definition
Definition.
Definition
Definition.
- What is coma, and how does it differ from sleep, brain death, vegetative and minimally conscious states? definition
- Is the question about coma or another disorder of consciousness? boundary
Causes
Causes.
Causes
Causes.
- What causes coma, from trauma and stroke to metabolic, toxic, endocrine and infectious causes? definition
- Which entry fits the specific cause? action
Care Assessment and care.
Clinical.
Assessment
Assessment.
Assessment
Assessment.
- How is coma assessed with the Glasgow Coma Scale, examination and imaging? provenance
- Which references are standard? provenance
Treatment
Care and prognosis.
Treatment
Treatment.
- How are patients in coma cared for, and how is prognosis estimated, in general terms? provenance
- Which sources are cited? provenance
Context Ethics and research.
Context.
Ethics
Ethics and law.
Ethics
Ethics.
- What ethical and legal questions arise about consent, life support and brain death, with positions attributed? provenance
- Which entry fits medical ethics? action
Research
Research.
Research
Research.
- What research explores consciousness detection and recovery, with findings attributed? provenance
- Which entry fits disorders of consciousness? action
What the second pass must settle
- Should the Glasgow Coma Scale and disorders of consciousness be separate primary entries?
- How should neurology sources be linked?
- The registry entry has merged aliases naming causes and a distinct state, cerebral death; should they be split off?