Gabrielle Giffords in Medically Induced Coma to Help Brain Rest [UPDATED]

Gabrielle Giffords in Medically Induced Coma to Help Brain Rest

abcnews.go.com

Giffords is currently in a medically induced coma that doctors say will help her brain rest. She had surgery to stop the bleeding and help control swelling on the left side of the brain. Doctors also had to decompress her eyes. Eyelids often swell when there is trauma to the brain.

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Judging from the article that follows, and general talk around the internet. It doesn't appear to look good for her. I hope that if she does pull through, she will have some semblance of a normal life after, though it seems that damage is pretty extensive. Can anyone provide further insight on the type of damage sustained, as far as cognitive abilities? I haven't seen any outlook posted so far.

abcnews.go.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

This poor woman! I feel just awful about her situation and I hope she pulls through! My thoughts go out to her and her husband, and to all the victims of yesterday's shooting... What a tragedy.

Thanks so much for posting this, I've kept looking for news on how she was doing. My thoughts go out to her and all the victims and their families.

Originally posted by wcitizen
Thanks so much for posting this, I've kept looking for news on how she was doing. My thoughts go out to her and all the victims and their families.

edit on 9-1-2011 by wcitizen because: (no reason given)

I'm just as interested, my thoughts and prayers are with her and the family, and I will do my best to update this topic.

"Brain swelling is the biggest threat at this point," said Dr. Michael Lemole, chief of the the division of neurosurgery at the University of Arizona. To help control swelling, part of Giffords skull was removed and will be reimplanted, possibly in a few months.

Giffords was awakened periodically and she has made nonverbal responses to simple commands, but Rhee said she has not spoken because she is on a ventilator.

Lemole said Giffords was able to squeeze a doctor's hand and hold up fingers when asked, and these responses are good signs.

"We take them for granted, but they [represent] a high level of function," he said.

Source : abcnews.go.com...

It appears that the next few days are going to be the most crucial, and I highly doubt with my limited experience in the paramedical field that she will retain 100% of brain function. I hope, of course, that this is the case though I believe that there will be significant cognitive disability.

I have a friend who suffered extreme head trauma about 6 years ago via being toppled from a horse and then trampled on her head by that horse. After surgery , she too was put in an induced coma for some time (longer than 48 hours) and made a full recovery.

The point is that by inducing a coma the whole body rests and hopefully recovers - obviously then, bringing the patient back round is a nervous time , but if reports are to be believed, her vital cognitive functions were evident prior to coma inducement.

Well wishes for her and her family and friends.

Originally posted by slidingdoor
I have a friend who suffered extreme head trauma about 6 years ago via being toppled from a horse and then trampled on her head by that horse. After surgery , she too was put in an induced coma for some time (longer than 48 hours) and made a full recovery.

The point is that by inducing a coma the whole body rests and hopefully recovers - obviously then, bringing the patient back round is a nervous time , but if reports are to be believed, her vital cognitive functions were evident prior to coma inducement.

Well wishes for her and her family and friends.

I certainly hope that a full recovery is the outcome, but being a former US Army Infantryman with combat time, I know what happens to skulls when a bullet comes into contact with it. There is a lot of trauma inside that is not readily apparent, and not associated with the acutal bullet. It's a long shot, but I pray for the best.

Lets hope she does not get swelling on the brain, that very well could kill her. I sure wish for her to come through this but she is not out of the water yet... I have not seen this report yet so thank you op s and f

Originally posted by MisterCrowley
Lets hope she does not get swelling on the brain, that very well could kill her. I sure wish for her to come through this but she is not out of the water yet... I have not seen this report yet so thank you op s and f

She is currently experiencing swelling, and for this reason part of her skull was removed and will later be replaced. The problem isn't prevention at this point, but alleviation. It's hard to treat these issues and that is why it is so critical. Steroids and anti-inflammatory medications will control swelling, but also have other risks which have to be carefully measured by her attending.

They would expect swelling and try to deal with it but I don't think its looking very good for her. I sincerely hope I am wrong.

Wow - they decompressed her eyes - I'd never heard of that before until now.

One thing is for sure - she's a fighter. I'm sure she's been given the "choice" on the other side to not return to her life, but the fact that she's still hanging on shows she wants to stay. I hope she's not in pain.

Originally posted by harrytuttle
Wow - they decompressed her eyes - I'd never heard of that before until now.

One thing is for sure - she's a fighter. I'm sure she's been given the "choice" on the other side to not return to her life, but the fact that she's still hanging on shows she wants to stay. I hope she's not in pain.

edit on 9-1-2011 by harrytuttle because: (no reason given)

Some coma patients 'feel pain' though they normally do not recall it upon awakening. These feelings can be expressed through movements and such while the patient is in a coma.

Some coma patients 'feel pain' - New Scientist

Brain scans show that coma patients that are most aware of their environment react to pain as much as healthy people.
Researchers who did the scans in Belgium say it justifies giving pain relief to all patients in this "minimally conscious state" (MCS).

"These findings might be objective evidence of a potential pain perception capacity in patients with MCS, which supports the idea that these patients need painkilling treatment," write Steven Laureys and his colleagues at the Coma Science Group of the Cyclotron Research Centre at the University of Liege in The Lancet Neurology.

But they found much less evidence that "brain-dead" coma patients in a so called persistent vegetative state (PVS) react to pain.

Source : psychologyofpain.blogspot.com...

Gifford's Condition "Promising"

www.youtube.com...

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' Condition Encouraging

He says Giffords remains in critical condition. She's heavily sedated and he's encouraged about her prognosis. Lemole said he's concerned with three particular issues.

"The first is probably swelling in the brain, something we have a hard time controlling at times," he said.

"The second is more bleeding in the brain. You can imagine if someone punches you in the shoulder you get a little bit of swelling but the next day it starts to bruise. The brain's no different. Bruising is nothing more than microscopic bleeding.

"And the third might be infection because we have pieces of bullet and bone that we don't retrieve and all of those are potential sources of infection, although less than you would think."

...

In terms of location of the injury, the surgical team tells CBS News that the bullet entered the left read part of the brain, exiting through the front left front part of the brain and miraculously spared any major blood vessels.

Source : www.cbsnews.com...

So there's a list of the major factors they are looking at in order for her to have a substantial recovery. I hope that helps answer some questions. The outlook is good, though critical and can turn for the worse at a moments notice. Judging from the amount of doctors and nurses (30 or so) keeping her alive round the clock, I would say she is in better hands than any of us could expect.

On a side note, you can read this on the same article just above the comments section:

In an effort to encourage the same level of civil dialogue among Politics Daily’s readers that we expect of our writers – a “civilogue,” to use the term coined by PD’s Jeffrey Weiss – we are requiring commenters to use their AOL or AIM screen names to submit a comment, and we are reading all comments before publishing them. Personal attacks (on writers, other readers, Nancy Pelosi, George W. Bush, or anyone at all) and comments that are not productive additions to the conversation will not be published, period, to make room for a discussion among those with ideas to kick around. Please read our Help and Feedback section for more info.

I guess there's no need for debate on the things to come. Here's one of them, very Internet ID'esque.

I hope only the best for Ms. Giffords. She has quite a road ahead of her most likely. My husband was accidentally shot in the head when he was 15 years old. Left side also. I would be quite shocked if she doesn't have some degree of impairment. My husband is high functioning, but suffers from epilepsy, short attention span, inability to make good decisions, and right side weakness. He also had a portion of his skull removed to ease swelling and later suffered an infection of the implanted prosthetic skull resulting in a second surgery for it's removal. Ultimately, a thin layer of skull from the right side was used to create a new skull on the left. It's pretty amazing what they can do. Ms. Giffords' ability to respond is a very encouraging sign. Very few severely head injured people are high functioning and those who show positive signs early have the best hope of doing well later. The rehabilitation is murder according to my husband. His parents were told he would never walk unassisted or talk properly again. He walks, talks perfectly, drives, and works in a factory. Anyone who is curious about what it can be like to be a head injury survivor should watch the movie, "Regarding Henry" . Harrison Ford gives a very accurate portrayal of a higher functioning survivor. Lives are changed that's for sure.

Originally posted by Komaratzi11
I hope only the best for Ms. Giffords. She has quite a road ahead of her most likely. My husband was accidentally shot in the head when he was 15 years old. Left side also. I would be quite shocked if she doesn't have some degree of impairment. My husband is high functioning, but suffers from epilepsy, short attention span, inability to make good decisions, and right side weakness. He also had a portion of his skull removed to ease swelling and later suffered an infection of the implanted prosthetic skull resulting in a second surgery for it's removal. Ultimately, a thin layer of skull from the right side was used to create a new skull on the left. It's pretty amazing what they can do. Ms. Giffords' ability to respond is a very encouraging sign. Very few severely head injured people are high functioning and those who show positive signs early have the best hope of doing well later. The rehabilitation is murder according to my husband. His parents were told he would never walk unassisted or talk properly again. He walks, talks perfectly, drives, and works in a factory. Anyone who is curious about what it can be like to be a head injury survivor should watch the movie, "Regarding Henry" . Harrison Ford gives a very accurate portrayal of a higher functioning survivor. Lives are changed that's for sure.

A friend of mine had swelling on the brain, due to an IED blast, and they removed a portion of his skull to alleviate the pressures. When they tried to replace it, it got infected and they had to remove it. He walked around for two years with a sagging dent in the back of his head until they finally replaced it with a prosthetic.