Editing Coma (section)

===Severity===
{{Main|Coma scale}}

A coma can be classified as (1) [[Tentorium cerebelli|supratentorial]] (above [[Tentorium cerebelli]]), (2) [[Tentorium cerebelli|infratentorial]] (below Tentorium cerebelli), (3) metabolic or (4) diffused.<ref name=med /> This classification is merely dependent on the position of the original damage that caused the coma, and does not correlate with severity or the prognosis. The severity of coma impairment however is categorized into several levels. Patients may or may not progress through these levels. In the first level, the brain responsiveness lessens, normal reflexes are lost, the patient no longer responds to pain and cannot hear.

The [[Rancho Los Amigos Scale]] is a complex scale that has eight separate levels, and is often used in the first few weeks or months of coma while the patient is under closer observation, and when shifts between levels are more frequent.