Question by : Doctors, nurses, and anyone else in the medical field I have a question about comas?
How do people eat? Do they still… ‘go to the bathroom’ in that state? How long do they usually last?
Best answer:
Answer by Jill
They “eat” through feeding tubes placed into their stomach, which gives an infusion of a nutrient formula but isn’t really “food”. They are hydrated through IVs, and also can get nutrient infusions through the IV as well.
Yes, the kidneys still produce urine which goes into the bladder. The person would have a catheter placed into the bladder to drain the urine. The bowels would not produce much due to not eating solid foods, but the person would be incontinent and require the use of pads which would need to be changed as needed.
How long they last varies on the reason for the coma. Could be hours, days, weeks, or even years, sometimes decades.
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