[Polygraphic study of nocturnal waking in patients with traumatic brain stem injuries (author's transl)]

The waking periods during sleep of 16 patients, having been in post-traumatic coma for 5-40 days (aged 15-28 years), were studied electroencephalographically 1 month (T1) and 6 months (T6) after regaining consciousness and were compared with control subjects. The amount of waking (frequency and duration) increased appreciably at 1 month (20% of total sleep time and 21 awakenings per night) and was augmented even more in those cases in which the initial damage was more severe caudally and the duration of coma longer. At 6 months, the duration of waking was reduced somewhat (12% vs. 3% controls), but the frequency of awakening had not changed. By this stage the level of initial damage did not seem to produce any effect. These results show that the disturbance in the sleep-waking cycle regresses more rapidly the less severe the degree of initial damage was.