A common sedative drug unexpectedly awoke a patient from a coma, Italian doctors have reported.
The patient stayed awake for about two hours, chatting to relatives, after receiving the drug, the doctors have reported.
He had received the drug midazolam, administered to him to sedate him so he could undergo a CT scan, the doctors report in Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience.
They believe it is the first time this type of drug has woken someone in a minimally conscious state.
During his two hour awakening, the patient spoke to an aunt on a mobile phone and congratulated his brother on his graduation – but did not remember anything about the accident.
The doctors report they attempted the treatment again taking EEG scans to monitor the impact of the drug on the brain.
They say the scans suggest the patient might have been suffering from catatonia.
One of the doctors Professor Maria Chiara Carboncini, of the University of Pisa, Italy, said it was possible that a range of benzodiazepine drugs might help with treatment.
She said: "Considering the minimally conscious state from this point of view could pave the way to new perspectives for both therapy and clinical management: at least a part of minimally conscious patients could in fact benefit from treatment with non-selective GABA A agonists.”
A case of post-traumatic minimally conscious state reversed by midazolam: Clinical aspects and neurophysiological correlates. Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience November 2014; doi: 10.3233/RNN-130351
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