The response of comatose children to parental speech as measured by changes in intracranial pressure.

Comatose children were studied to determine whether they responded to the voice of their parents. The response was measured as changes in the intracranial pressure which was being monitored by a subarachnoid bolt. Of all the children who met the sample criteria at Primary Children's Medical Center over a three-month period, permission was granted to study seven. The investigator intended to perform three trials on each patient if circumstance allowed and a total of 17 trials were in fact performed. The parents were given three phrases to repeat over a three-minute timed trial. The intracranial pressure readings were recorded for this period and also for three minutes before and after the actual session when the child was not receiving extrinsic stimulation. Inferential statistics were not performed due to the small sample size. Some change did occur in each patient's mean intracranial pressure with the stimulus of parental speech (in all but one individual trial). The majority of the patients showed a change in mean intracranial pressure of one Torr or greater from the pretrial to the actual trial. The study could serve as a pilot for many further investigations. The significance of this research should be to make health care workers aware that the comatose child may continue to have some perception of his environment. They should treat the unconscious person with dignity and respect and encourage the patients' continued contact and emotional support for the child.