RT Book, Section
A1 Mutter, M. Kathryn
A1 Huff, J. Stephen
A2 Tintinalli, Judith E.
A2 Ma, O. John
A2 Yealy, Donald M.
A2 Meckler, Garth D.
A2 Stapczynski, J. Stephan
A2 Cline, David M.
A2 Thomas, Stephen H.
SR Print(0)
ID 1166598707
T1 Altered Mental Status and Coma
T2 Tintinalli's Emergency Medicine: A Comprehensive Study Guide, 9e
YR 2020
FD 2020
PB McGraw-Hill Education
PP New York, NY
SN 9781260019933
LK accessemergencymedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1166598707
RD 2024/04/24
AB Altered  mental  status  and  coma  are  broad  clinical  categories  used  to  describe  disorders  of  arousal  and  content  of  consciousness.  Arousal  behaviors  include  wakefulness  and  basic  alerting.  Content  of  consciousness  includes  awareness,  memory,  language,  reasoning,  spatial  relationship  integration,  emotions,  complex  attention,  and  the  myriad  integration  processes  that  make  us  human.  Delirium,  dementia,  and  coma  may  each  affect  consciousness,  but  their  clinical  presentations  are  distinct.  Prompt  and  accurate  differentiation  between  the  three  conditions  is  essential  for  appropriate  management  in  the  ED  setting.  Coma  is  characterized  by  failure  of  both  arousal  and  content  functions  of  consciousness.  The  altered  states  of  delirium  and  dementia  have  multiple  effects  on  neuropsychological  function  to  varying  degrees.  While  delirium  refers  to  an  acute  state  of  fluctuating  attention  and  change  in  cognition,  dementia  is  a  chronic  disorder  of  deteriorating  cognition,  with  or  without  behavioral  disturbances.  Psychiatric  disorders  and  altered  mental  states  may  share  features  such  as  hallucinations  or  delusions.  Some  distinctions  between  the  different  states  are  summarized  in  Table  168-1.