Glasgow Coma Scale
Use for children 2 years and younger only. For older children, use the standard Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS). Note the difference between the Glasgow Coma Score (total score, only applicable when all three components are testable) and the Glasgow Coma Scale (component scores, applicable if any of three components is not testable).
The Glasgow Coma Scale or GCS is a neurological scale that aims to give a reliable, objective way of recording the conscious state of a person for initial as well as subsequent assessment. A patient is assessed against the criteria of the scale, and the resulting points give a patient score between 3 and either 14 or 15.GCS was initially used to assess level of consciousness after head injury, and the scale is now used by first aid, EMS, nurses and doctors as being applicable to all acute medical and trauma patients. In hospitals it is also used in monitoring chronic patients in intensive care.The scale was published in 1974 by Graham Teasdale and Bryan J. Jennett, professors of neurosurgery at the University of Glasgow's Institute of Neurological Sciences at the city's Southern General Hospital.GCS is used as part of several ICU scoring systems, including APACHE II, SAPS II, and SOFA, to assess the status of the central nervous system. A similar scale, the Rancho Los Amigos Scale is used to assess the recovery of traumatic brain injury patients.
Brain
Ann K. Kim MD, ... Laurie A. Loevner MD, in Radiology Secrets Plus (Third Edition), 2011
11 What is the Glasgow Coma Scale? How is it used?
The Glasgow Coma Scale was devised to provide a uniform approach to clinical assessment of trauma patients with acute head trauma. To measure level of awareness and responsiveness, the scale assigns numeric values (1 to 5) to each of the following: eye opening, best motor response, and best verbal response. Scores of 13 to 15 correspond to mild closed head injury; 9 to 12, to moderate head injury; and 8 or less to severe brain injury. The Glasgow Coma Scale does not correlate with survival outcome in cases of severe head trauma with coma.