Recovery after 80 days of vegetative state

The patient, a Korean national, went to the emergency room at FV Hospital in mid-May when he lost consciousness and his skin smelled. The doctor determined that he had low blood pressure, cerebral hemorrhage, deep coma, brain swelling so part of the brain was pushed to the left, severe pneumonia with septic shock. The emergency team determined that the patient had had a stroke more than 48 hours before it was discovered.

On October 30, Doctor Nguyen Manh Hung, Head of the Department of Neurosurgery and Neurovascular Intervention, said that the patient’s Glasgow score at that time was at scale 3 (normal level is 15), which according to medical instructions would No surgery because there is no hope. However, the doctor decided “there is still more to do”, asking the ICU (intensive resuscitation) team to continue treatment.

Because the patient had no relatives to accompany him, Dr. Hung signed a guarantee form and then together with his team performed surgery to open the skull to remove the hematoma. The surgery was successful after 3 hours, releasing the hematoma. However, the patient is still in a deep coma, recovery is difficult to predict, and is considered to be in a vegetative state. This is a medical condition in which the patient still maintains some body functions such as blood pressure and breathing rate, but is unconscious and does not respond to any stimuli from the surrounding environment. They cannot hear, speak or perform any actions.

The hospital sought information about relatives and contacted the patient’s biological father who came from Korea to take care of the child. In a vegetative state, the patient’s health experienced many ups and downs, continuously suffering from fever due to severe life-threatening infections, and even severe pneumothorax. Doctors from many specialties coordinate and step by step help patients overcome the door of death. He gradually had positive changes, weaned off the ventilator, and was able to absorb well through the digestive tract instead of eating through a tube.

After 80 days of hospitalization, the patient regained consciousness with signs of significant neurological recovery. He is conscious, understands English, can raise his right hand and make a fist, although his movements are still weak because he is paralyzed on the left side of his body due to sequelae of brain damage.

“I believe that the patient’s brain will recover almost to normal, but motor function will be difficult and take a lot of time,” Dr. Hung said, adding that this is a quite rare recovery.

Currently, the patient is awake and has been transferred to a regular room for internal medicine doctors to monitor and continue treatment. The hospital board of directors has contacted the Korean consulate and is waiting for procedures to bring the patient home to continue recovery care.

Doctors recommend preventing strokes by controlling risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, high blood fats, atrial fibrillation… Early recognition of signs such as facial paralysis, inability to move the face normal condition, difficulty speaking, numbness on one side of the body to take the patient to the nearest emergency stroke treatment facility as soon as possible.