Drug Induced Coma

Those of you who have had a craniotomy, can you tell me if your doctors told you ahead of time whether or not you will be put in a drug induced coma for several days? Does anyone know of any negative side effects of being in an induced coma?

Hi, lana- I had a drug induced coma when I first had the bleed. Some barbituate induced comas reduce the metabolic activity in the brain. This helps to prevent swelling. I seemed to be fine, no issues. I found the following on healthatoz.com:

An estimated 25% of barbiturate-induced comas are accompanied by severe side effects. The side effects of barbiturates, especially the depressive effect on the cardiovascular system, can be too risky for some patients. Other side effects include impaired gastrointestinal motility and impaired immune response and infection. Since barbiturates depress activity in the brain, measurements of brain activity may be unreliable. Careful monitoring of the patient is required to ensure nutritional needs are being met and to guard against complications, such as lung infection, fevers, or deep vein blood clots.

Sounds scary, but I bet the benefits outweigh the risks.

Hi Lana, my AVM actually ruptured so I was pretty out of it anyway. I had my crainiotomy the day after my AVM bled out then was put in a drug induced coma for about 18 days. I had no ill side-effects from it; actually I was glad I was in a coma because it meant I missed all the nasty things that happened to me while I was out ie. high intercrainial pressure, my lung collapsing etc. Why do you ask?