Detecting consciousness in clinically unresponsive patients with brain injury
Background Each year, traumatic brain injury results in 1.5 million hospital admissions in the EU. Of all comatose patients with traumatic brain injury, 40% die in the ICU and 20% enter a prolonged disorder of consciousness, seemingly unaware of themselves and their environment. Recent studies indicate that 15-20% of these behaviorally unresponsive patients have residual (covert) consciousness. Detecting consciousness in those people is challenging, but of utmost importance since the presumed presence or absence of consciousness affects medical decisions about treatment, including prognosis and end-of-life decisions. Consciousness can be detected from measurements of brain activity even in patients who are unable to overtly respond. ...