Glasgow coma scale assessment

GCS ( Glasgow Coma Scales )

The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is a tool used to assess the level of consciousness of a patient. It is commonly used in emergency medicine and critical care settings to determine the severity of a brain injury, such as a concussion or traumatic brain injury.

The GCS is composed of three tests : eye opening, verbal response, and motor response. Each test is scored on a scale of 1 to 5, with a maximum total score of 15.

Eye opening:

• 4: Spontaneously
• 3: To verbal command
• 2: To pain
• 1: None

Verbal response:

• 5: Oriented and converses normally
• 4: Confused, but able to answer questions
• 3: Inappropriate responses
• 2: Incomprehensible sounds
• 1: None

Motor response:

• 6: Obeys commands
• 5: Localizes to pain
• 4: Withdraws from pain
• 3: Abnormal flexion (decorticate posturing)
• 2: Extensor response (decerebrate posturing)
• 1: None

The total GCS score is calculated by adding up the scores from each of the three tests. A score of 13-15 indicates mild brain injury, 9-12 indicates moderate brain injury, and 3-8 indicates severe brain injury.

It's important to note that the Glasgow Coma Scale is just one tool used to assess a patient's level of consciousness, and it should be used in conjunction with other clinical assessments and diagnostic tests.