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Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology pp 1–2Cite as

Coma

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Definition

Coma is a state of unconsciousness in which the patient is incapable of being awake, and is unarousable, even with vigorous stimulation. Coma is a self-limiting state which is usually the result of disease or injury and rarely lasts for more than 4 weeks. While comatose, a patient may be reflexive to painful stimuli but lack the ability to demonstrate localized response or defensive movements (Posner et al.2007).

Current Knowledge

Diagnosis

The diagnosis of patients in coma is clinical and involves examination of physiological functions, including arousal, pupillary responses, respiration, motor function, and reflexes. Several clinical features of coma include the loss of spontaneous or induced arousal, no eye opening, and the absence of sleep-wake cycles on EEG (Giacino et al. 2014). Several diagnostic scales are available for severity rating and include the Glasgow Coma Scale (Teasdale and Jennett1976) and the FOUR Score (Wijdicks et al.2005).

Prognosis

Mortality rates for...

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References and Readings

  • Giacino, J. T., Fins, J. J., Laureys, S., & Schiff, N. D. (2014). Disorders of consciousness after acquired brain injury: The state of the science. Nature Reviews Neurology, 10(2), 99–114.

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  • Posner, J. B., Saper, C. B., Schiff, N. D., & Plum, F. (2007). Plum and Posner’s diagnosis of stupor and coma. New York: Oxford University Press.

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  • Teasdale, G., & Jennett, B. (1976). Assessment and prognosis of coma after head injury. Acta Neurochirurgica, 34, 45–55.

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  • Wijdicks, E. F. M., Bamlet, W. R., Maramattom, B. V., Manno, E. M., & McClelland, R. L. (2005). Validation of a new coma scale: The FOUR score. Annals of Neurology, 58, 585–593.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, USA

    Travis Williams

  2. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Indiana University School of Medicine, 200 S. Jordan Avenue, Indianapolis, IN, 47405, USA

    Jacob Kean

Authors
  1. Travis Williams
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  2. Jacob Kean
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Travis Williams .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Richmond, Virgin Islands, USA

    Jeffrey Kreutzer

  2. Kessler Foundation , West Orange, New Jersey, USA

    John DeLuca

  3. Suite 200 , Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, USA

    Bruce Caplan

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© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

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Williams, T., Kean, J. (2017). Coma. In: Kreutzer, J., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56782-2_225-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56782-2_225-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-56782-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-56782-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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