Question about stab wounds

robgprice · Nov 20, 2017

I have a similar question. I'm a newbie so I can't post a new thread. I have a modern earth-based sf novel where a character gets stabbed in the abdomen/chest area and this should keep him immobile for a long time. 1 1/2 weeks in artificial coma (blood loss) and then for weeks he really can't move, has a catheter etc...

Would infection complications achieve this? maybe it doesn't need to be too gory!

Thanks

AW Admin · Nov 20, 2017

robgprice said:
I have a similar question. I'm a newbie so I can't post a new thread. I have a modern earth-based sf novel where a character gets stabbed in the abdomen/chest area and this should keep him immobile for a long time. 1 1/2 weeks in artificial coma (blood loss) and then for weeks he really can't move, has a catheter etc...

Would infection complications achieve this? maybe it doesn't need to be too gory!

Thanks

You absolutely can post a new thread in research.

You can't start a new thread in Share Your Work, but you can respond to threads there.

robgprice · Nov 20, 2017

He's a healthy male, 38y.o. btw

Cath · Nov 20, 2017

I've moved these into a brand new thread for you. Have fun!

WeaselFire · Nov 20, 2017

robgprice said:
I have a similar question. I'm a newbie so I can't post a new thread. I have a modern earth-based sf novel where a character gets stabbed in the abdomen/chest area and this should keep him immobile for a long time. 1 1/2 weeks in artificial coma (blood loss) and then for weeks he really can't move, has a catheter etc...

Would infection complications achieve this? maybe it doesn't need to be too gory!

In a modern day scenario there is no such wound, even with infection. The stab would be fatal or the recovery far quicker and easier. Since it's future Sc-Fi, you face a two-fold issue. Yes, fatal wounds could be survivable. But medicine advances should hasten recovery, not slow it. And induced comas are not for blood loss, that's what a transfusion is for. Inducing a coma is for pain management.

A slicing wound that takes out a major organ, liver, pancreas, possibly a stomach or large portion of intestines, combined with waiting for a new organ to be grown in a lab might fit. You can't easily slash a lung or heart, and a single kidney, as long as blood loss is accounted for, is easily survivable.

A stab that breaks a pelvis or a joint, requiring replacement and therapy, is another option. A baseball bat to the hip could do something like what you need. Maybe in the future they can correct spinal damage with artificial replacements and therapy. It's kind of your world to alter medicine within, as long as it's believable.

Jeff

MaeZe · Nov 20, 2017

WeaselFire said:
... Inducing a coma is for pain management.

Actually no, except some very rare circumstances that are not standard care.

A medically induced coma is used to protect the brain while cerebral edema is being treated.

But the rest of that paragraph was correct, if one was in a coma for a couple weeks after blood loss, that would suggest a poor prognosis with a lot of brain damage from poor blood profusion during the shock before fluid resuscitation.

WeaselFire said:
... A slicing wound that takes out a major organ, liver, pancreas, possibly a stomach or large portion of intestines, combined with waiting for a new organ to be grown in a lab might fit. You can't easily slash a lung or heart, and a single kidney, as long as blood loss is accounted for, is easily survivable.

That's an interesting sci-fi concept, waiting for a new organ to be grown. I like it.

Here's a thought: the same way we protect the brain with an induced coma, if the person lost their liver with the stab wound (it would have to do a lot of damage to take the liver out all together), it could be they cool the person down and induce a coma to protect the body until the replacement organ is ready. We use cooling a person's body down to a very low temperature when one is going to stop circulation in order to do major blood vessel repair or vascular repair in the brain.

Induced Hypothermia in Cardiovascular and Brain Surgery

Clinical application of induced hypothermia for brain protection has expanded in recent years. There are many developments in laboratory and clinical investigations relevant to the relationship between neuronal death and brain temperature. Decreases in metabolic rate, tissue oxygen consumption, and energy demand most likely play less important roles in brain protection from ischemia, whereas more important possible mechanisms for brain protection include effects on excitatory neurotransmissions, intracellular calcium flux, membrane lipid peroxidation, free radical reactions, and permeability of the blood-brain barrier. Induced hypothermia has been applied to cardiovascular surgery and cerebral aneurysm surgery. In the intensive care unit, induced hypothermia has been applied to patients with traumatic brain injury, cerebral infarction, and subarachnoidal hemorrhage and after cardiopulmonary resuscitation. As hypothermia is not a physiological state, adverse effects would appear in cardiovascular, respiratory, coagulatory, immunological, metabolic, and other functions. Adequate indication, exact monitoring, temperature control, sufficient care, and an educated team are mandatory to maintain patient condition in a stable fashion and to avoid the complications associated with hypothermia.

Rabe · Nov 23, 2017

MaeZe said:
A medically induced coma is used to protect the brain while cerebral edema is being treated.

Or for other reasons, such as my case where there wasn't any brain problems but cardio/pulmonary complications. So, an induced coma can be for other things.

The problem is the believability as to why the character was in a coma for that length of time...which is where it becomes dicey for me. I knew I was going to hate "The Walking Dead" when he woke up from a 'coma' after a month for a gunshot wound.

MDSchafer · Nov 24, 2017

robgprice said:
I have a similar question. I'm a newbie so I can't post a new thread. I have a modern earth-based sf novel where a character gets stabbed in the abdomen/chest area and this should keep him immobile for a long time. 1 1/2 weeks in artificial coma (blood loss) and then for weeks he really can't move, has a catheter etc...

Would infection complications achieve this? maybe it doesn't need to be too gory!

Thanks

Guy gets minor stab wound, goes to non-trauma center ER and they bandage him up and sends him home. His wound gets infected, goes back to second rate ER, they send him home with Cipro, cipro doesn't work and he becomes septic, goes into shock, needs to be put on a ventilator. (Which requires a sedation in the short term.) One of the complications of sepsis is encephalopathy, which can linger in some patients. It's uncommon, but not rare for patients who develop spetic shock to not form memories for a week or more. The average length of stay for septic shock is eight days, which is a lot in today's era.

Question about stab wounds

robgprice

AW Admin

robgprice

Cath

The mean one

WeaselFire

Benefactor Member

MaeZe

Rabe

the living dead

MDSchafer