Demi,
I looked this up. They induce a coma to slow down the blood flow etc. to the brain and hopefully reduce the swelling of the brain. The medical sites that I read said that there is no proof as to whether this is effective or not. They also sited other options, such as drilling a hole to relieve pressure and others I can't remember.

Important for people to remember is that there usually are more options and the Dr.s will probably "push" the one that is their prefered not necessarily the best for you. We should always ask lots of questions about dangers, options etc.

Of course this is the same lesson that we have all had to learn the hard way about dentist.