Following a traumatic brain injury, a patient has been in a coma for several days. Which of the following statements is true of this patient's current LOC?
A) The patient occasionally makes incomprehensible sounds.
B) The patient's current LOC will likely become a permanent state.
C) The patient may occasionally make nonpurposeful movements.
D) The patient is incapable of spontaneous respirations.
Ans: C
Feedback:
Coma is a clinical state of unarousable unresponsiveness in which no purposeful responses to internal or external stimuli occur, although nonpurposeful responses to painful stimuli and brain stem reflexes may be present. Verbal sounds, however, are atypical. Ventilator support may or may not be necessary. Comas are not permanent states.
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