What is the Glasgow Coma Scale and when is it administered?
The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is used to objectively describe the extent of impaired consciousness in all types of acute medical and trauma patients. The scale assesses patients according to three aspects of responsiveness: eye-opening, motor, and verbal responses.
Why do we do GCS?
The GCS is a reliable and objective way of recording the initial and subsequent level of consciousness in a person after a brain injury. It is used by trained staff at the site of an injury like a car crash or sports injury, for example, and in the emergency department and intensive care units.
When the patient is in coma his GCS will be?
Patients with scores of 3-8 are usually considered to be in a coma. Generally, brain injury is classified as: Severe, GCS < 8–9. Moderate, GCS 8 or 9–12 (controversial)
What level of injury does the patients GCS indicate?
A GCS of 8 or less indicates severe injury, one of 9-12 moderate injury, and a GCS score of 13-15 is obtained when the injury is minor. 6 Carrying out request (‘obeying command’) -patient does simple things you ask. 5 Localising response to pain.
How often should GCS be done?
An initial GCS should be done at time of admission and then every four hours unless otherwise indicated by the medical team. Documentation of the GCS is crucial since the medical team, which generally includes neurology, will use this to determine improvement or decompensation of the patient.
How do you conduct a GCS?
To calculate the patient’s GCS , you need to add together the scores from eye opening, verbal response and motor response. Added together, these give you an overall score out of the maximum of 15.
What does a Glasgow Coma Scale of 8 or less indicate?
Mild head injuries are generally defined as those associated with a GCS score of 13-15, and moderate head injuries are those associated with a GCS score of 9-12. A GCS score of 8 or less defines a severe head injury. These definitions are not rigid and should be considered as a general guide to the level of injury.
What does a Glasgow coma Scale score of 5 indicate?
In the case of GCS scores of 3 to 5, mortality is high and success has generally been low, whereas for GCS scores of 6 to 8, aggressive triage and neurosurgical management may be the most important determinant of outcome.
When should you perform neurological observations?
Frequency of neurological assessment If the patient’s condition is deteriorating, observations may need to be carried out as frequently as every 10-15 minutes. Clinicians’ professional knowledge and judgement will dictate the necessary timing interval for the assessment.