Table 1 Prognosis of a comatose patient
Primary assessment | |
|---|---|
Glasgow Coma Scale <8? | Patient is comatose |
No response to environment? | |
At 24 hours | |
Clinical examination | |
Absent pupillary response? | Probability of a poor outcome, 97% |
Absent motor response? | Probability of a poor outcome, 97% |
Somatosensory evoked potentials, absent N20 signal bilaterally | Probability of a poor outcome, 100% |
Serum neuron-specific enolase ≥33 μg/l | Probability of a poor outcome, 100% |
At 72 hours | |
Clinical examination | |
Absent motor response? | Probability of a poor outcome, 97% |
Somatosensory evoked potentials, absent N20 signal bilaterally | Probability of a poor outcome, 100% |
Serum neuron-specific enolase ≥33 μg/l | Probability of a poor outcome, 100% |
Electroencephalography, isoelectric or burst-suppression | Probability of a poor outcome, 100% |