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CONSCIOUSNESS
Dr. Sujeeta Bajracharya
Assist. Prof. Dept. Of General Practice &
Emergency Medicine
DEFINITION OF UNCONCIOUSNESS
absence of awareness and responsiveness to
surroundings
Delirium
Dysfunction of both arousal system and content of
consciousness
Dementia
Failure of the content portion of consciousness with
relatively preserved alerting function
Coma
Failure of both arousal system and content of
consciousness
PHYSIOLOGY OF
UNCONSCIOUSNESS
reticular activating system (RAS)
Mental status
Clinical state of emotional and intellectual functioning of the
individual
6 elements f MSE
appearance, behavior, and attitude
disorder of thought
disorder of perception
mood and affect
insight and judgment
sensorium and intelligence
Appearance, behavior, an Mood and affect
attitude prevailing mood and emotional
Dress content
Infectious
Pneumonia
Urinary tract infection
Meningitis or encephalitis
Sepsis
Metabolic/toxic
Hypoglycemia
Alcohol ingestion
Electrolyte abnormalities
Hepatic encephalopathy
Thyroid disorders
Alcohol or drug withdrawal
Neurologic
Anticholinergic drugs
Alcohol or drug withdrawal
Sedatives-hypnotics
Narcotic analgesics
Polypharmacy
CLASSIFICATION OF DEMENTIA BY
CAUSE
Degenerative
Alzheimer's disease
Huntington's disease
Parkinson's disease, others
Vascular
Multiple infarcts
Hypoperfusion (cardiac arrest, profound
hypotension, others)
Subdural hematoma
Subarachnoid hemorrhage
Infectious
Neoplastic
Primary tumors and metastatic disease
Carcinomatous meningitis
Paraneoplastic syndromes
Traumatic
Traumatic brain injury
Subdural hematoma
Toxic
Alcohol
Medications (anticholinergics, polypharmacy)
Metabolic
Vitamin B12 or folate deficiency
Thyroid disease
Uremia, others
Psychiatric
Depression (pseudodementia)
Hydrocephalic
Normal-pressure hydrocephalus (communicating
hydrocephalus)
Noncommunicating hydrocephalus
FOR GP & EM
o opioid overdose
INITIAL GENERAL MANAGEMENT
OF UNCONSCIOUS PATIENT
A. Airway and cervical spine
Consider
tube thoracostomy for suspected
hemopneumothorax.
C. Circulation
Assess for blood volume status: skin color, capillary refill,
radial/femoral/carotid pulse, blood pressure.
Identify hemotympanum.
Identify
epistaxis or septal hematoma; consider
tamponade or airway control if bleeding is profuse.
Identify avulsed teeth, jaw instability.
General appearance
vital signs
JALCCO
Dehydration
JVP
Systemic examination
CVS-
RS-
GIS-
CNS-
o AVPU
Regional examination
Head to toe
Investigation
1. blood
all patients- BS, urea, electrolytes
selected patients-FBE,ABG, LFT, blood, alcohol serum cortisol,
thyroid function test, serum digoxin.
2. Urine
glucose, albumin, drug screening
Note-
take blood for investigation before giving glucose-BSR
measurement by glucometer
use nasogastric tube to prevent acute gastric dilatation
Take home message
BASIC MANAGEMENT ESSENTIALS
1. keep patient alive(maintain airway and circulation)
2. get history from witness
3. examine patient
4. take blood for investigations
5. give coma cocktails(tong)
6. CT scan ( if diagnosis doubtful)
Secondary Survey
. detailed approach to ABCD.
. examination from head to toe.