How long can you leave someone in a coma?

Most people do come out of a coma Typically, a coma does not last more than a few days or couple of weeks. In some rare cases, a person might stay in a coma for several weeks, months or even years.

How long do you have to be in a coma for the doctors to pull the plug?

In most cases, medically induced comas are only necessary for a short period of time. Doctors typically use the procedure for a couple of days or for as long as two weeks.

How long can you be kept on life support?

More invasive life support, such as heart/lung bypass, is only maintained for a few hours or days, but patients with artificial hearts have survived for as long as 512 days.

How long does a person stay in coma (and why)?

Brain tumor. Overdose of alcohol or any toxic drug. Doctors often face difficulty to predict the exact number of days/weeks/months, for which a person will stay in coma. However, coma in rare cases last for about 2 weeks to 4 weeks. In contrast, persistent vegetative state of an individual may last for many years.

What happens when a patient is in a medically induced coma?

While the person is in a medically induced coma, they will be unresponsive. Once doctors decide it is safe, an anesthesiologist will reverse the process and bring the person out of the coma. In most cases, medically induced comas are only necessary for a short period of time.

What should I do if someone is in a coma?

If you are with a person who develops signs and symptoms of a coma, call 911 or your local emergency number immediately. When you arrive at the hospital, emergency room staff will need as much information as possible from family and friends about what happened to the affected person before the coma.

How long will my dad be in an induced coma?

It is always difficult to put an exact time frame on how long your Dad will be in the induced coma and how long he will need the breathing tube and the ventilator and it will also be hard to say if he will survive or not. From that perspective, Intensive Care is an inexact science.