Abstract: Objective To compare the effects of median nerve electrical stimulation on coma patients after traumatic brain injury with different settings. Methods From 2013 to 2015, 161 patients with traumatic brain injury were randomly divided into control group (n=40), experimental group 1 (n=41), experimental group 2 (n=39) and experimental group 3 (n=41). The control group received routine consciousness-promoted methods, and the experimental groups received median nerve electrical stimulation with 200 μs and 30 Hz, 100 Hz and 50 Hz in sequence, 60 minutes a day for 90 days. They were assessed with Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) and Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) before, 30 days and 90 days after treatment. Results There was significant difference in the scores of CCS and CRS-R, times of treatment, number of sobered patients and coma time among groups (P<0.01), that the experimental groups were better than the control group (P<0.05), and no significant difference was found between the experimental groups 1 and 2 (P>0.05). The experimental group 3 was better than the experimental groups 1 and 2 (P<0.05). Conclusion Median nerve electrical stimulation with 200 μs, 50 Hz could promote coma patients to wake up optimally.

Key words: traumatic brain injury, coma, median nerve electrical stimulation, frequency, wake-promoting