I have a character who was trapped underground with only water for a month. I have them in the hospital in a coma due to injuries and malnutrition. My internet searches had revealed that it can take a day to a week before someone wakes fully from the coma. Also, the recovery can be long because of physical deterioration of the muscles and such. So physical therapy will be needed. Does anyone have any information got share? I want to make it as medically accurate as possible, not a medical how to, but believable. Thanks
I don't have medical training, but it might also be worth considering what happens to people's eyesight if you have no light for a month. They might also have had hallucinations if they were in the dark alone for that long (though again I'm not a doctor so you would need to look more into that).
It honestly depends on the type of injury and the person involved. Neurology is one of those "best guess" fields. Everyone reacts differently. The same injury can put one person out for hours and the other for weeks. Did the person have*enough* water or just some water? If they had just enough to survive, their renal and cardiovascular systems might also take a hit. Did they have enough light to determine day vs. night at least? If not, they'll probably be confused and possibly hallucinating - nothing to do with their eyes, but with the loss of a normal circadian rhythm. If they're already in the coma when found, this obviously won't be evident right away but might persist when they wake up. With this scenario you can *almost* do whatever you want as long as the care the person receives is believable.
I'm not in the field, but how do they fall into a coma exactly? They are strong and alert enough to drink water for a month and then after rescue they fall into a coma? Or they fall into a coma shortly before rescue? The timing seems a bit suspect but I can't say it's not possible. Comas, obviously, can last for years in some cases but this is probably exaggerated in media, like complete amnesia often is. There is also the 'medically induced coma' but this doesn't sound consistent with your plot.
I have the same questions. Humans can survive for a rather long time on just water. I am not a medical professional, but I would be very surprised if surviving on water for a month would put someone into a coma. https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/how-long-can-you-live-without-food#bodily-response
