• Diederik K Van Sassenbroeck, Nikolaas De Neve, Peter De Paepe, Frans M Belpaire, Alain G Verstraete, Paul A Calle, and Walter A Buylaert.
• Department of Emergency Medicine, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium. vansassenbroeck@ugent.be
• Clin Toxicol (Phila). 2007 Jun 1; 45 (5): 533-8.

AbstractCase reports mention a sudden awakening from GHB-associated coma but do not specify its time course. The aim of the present case series was to investigate the time course of the awakening from GHB intoxication and the relationship to plasma concentrations of GHB and the presence of other drugs. Unconscious (GCS or=12 was 30 minutes (range 10 to 50 minutes). A subgroup of five patients had a GCS of 3 upon arrival and remained at 3 for a median time of 60 minutes (range 30 to 110 minutes), while the median time for the transition between the last point with GCS 3 and the first with GCS 15 was 30 minutes (range 20 to 60 minutes). This case series illustrates that patients with GHB intoxications remain in a deep coma for a relatively long period of time, after which they awaken over about 30 minutes. This awakening is accompanied by a small change in GHB concentrations. A confounding factor in these observations is co-ingested illicit drugs.

19 keywords...

hide…