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By Mayo Clinic staffComa is an emergency medical condition. If you are with a person who develops signs and symptoms of coma, call 911 or your local emergency number immediately.
When you arrive at the hospital, emergency room staff will urgently need as much information as possible about what happened before the coma. On the way to the hospital, try to pull together answers to the following questions:
- Did the coma start abruptly or gradually?
- Were there problems with vision, dizziness or numbness beforehand?
- Does the affected person have any history of diabetes, seizures or strokes?
- Did you notice any changes in the person's health in the time leading up to the coma, such as a fever or worsening headache?
- Did you notice any changes in the person's ability to function in the time leading up to the coma, such as frequent falls or confusion?
- What prescription or nonprescription drugs did the affected person use?
- Berger JR. Stupor and coma. In: Bradley. Neurology in Clinical Practice. 5th ed. Burlington, Mass.: Butterworth-Heinemann; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/book.do?method=display&type=bookPage&decorator=header&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-7506-7525-3..50007-8--cesec4&uniq=189705338&isbn=978-0-7506-7525-3&sid=969544059. Accessed March 18, 2010.
- Simon RP. Coma and disorders of arousal. In: Goldman L, et al., eds. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/189705338-11/969548074/1492/1435.html#4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-2805-5..50433-X--cesec2_18138. Accessed March 18, 2010.
- Young BG. Stupor and coma in adults. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 18, 2010.
- Cooke JL. Depressed consciousness and coma. In: Marx JA, et al., eds. Rosen's Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 6th ed. St. Louis, Mo.: Mosby; 2006. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/book.do?method=display&type=bookPage&decorator=header&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05472-0..00014-1&uniq=189705338&isbn=978-0-323-05472-0&sid=969548074#lpState=open&lpTab=contentsTab&content=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05472-0..00014-1%3Bfrom%3Dtoc%3Btype%3DbookPage%3Bisbn%3D978-0-323-05472-0. Accessed March 18, 2010.
- Wijdicks EF (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. March 23, 2010.
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