A patient, comatose after a head injury, is planned to have a diagnostic test to help predict the outcome of the coma. The nurse should prepare to assist with which of the following diagnostic tests?
1. evoked potentials
2. Electroencephalogram
3. CT scan
4. lumbar puncture
1
Rationale: Evoked potentials are recordings of cerebral electrical impulses generated in response to visual, auditory, or somatosensory stimuli. They are used to assist in the evaluation of the location and extent of brain dysfunction after head injury. Evoked potentials may be useful in predicting coma outcome. Electroencephalography allows recording of the electrical activity of the brain using electrodes attached to the scalp but is not used to help predict the outcome of a coma. CT scan and lumbar puncture are not used to help predict the outcome of a coma.
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