The
Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is a neurological scale which aims to give a reliable and objective way of recording the state of a person's consciousness for initial as well as subsequent assessment. A person is assessed against the criteria of the scale, and the resulting points give a person's score between 3 (indicating deep unconsciousness) and either 14 (original scale) or 15 (more widely used, modified or revised scale).GCS was used to assess a person's level of consciousness after a head injury, and the scale is now used by emergency medical services, nurses, and physicians as being applicable to all acute medical and
trauma patients. In hospitals, it is also used in monitoring patients in
intensive care units. The scale was published in 1974 by Graham Teasdale and Bryan J. Jennett, both 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. The initial indication for use of the GCS was serial assessments of people with
traumatic brain injury and coma for at least six hours in the neurosurgical ICU setting, though it is commonly used throughout hospital departments. The similar Rancho Los Amigos Scale is used to assess the recovery of traumatic
brain injury.
Relevant Topics in Neuroscience & Psychology
