The Glasgow Coma Scale—How It Is Used to Assess Head Trauma
When you’ve suffered any type of trauma to your head or brain, it’s essential to make a determination, as soon as possible, of the severity of your injury, so that medical professionals can take the right steps to minimize potential injury and maximize your recovery. The tool commonly used by medical professionals to make that assessment is known as the Glasgow Coma Scale.
What Is the Glasgow Coma Scale?
Developed and first used nearly 50 years ago (1974), the Glasgow Coma Scale allows qualified medical professionals to objectively evaluate the level of impairment experienced by persons who have had any trauma to the head or brain. The test relies on a visual assessment by medical practitioners of three specific types of responsiveness by patients: verbal responses, motor responses and eye-opening responses.
With respect to verbal responses, the Glasgow Coma scale assesses points as follows:
- No verbal response—one point
- Incomprehensive sounds only—two points
- Inappropriate words—three points
- Confused verbal responses—four points
- Fully orientated verbal responses—five points
For motor response, the scales tallies the responses as follows:
- No motor response—one point
- Abnormal extension to pain—two points
- Abnormal flexion to pain—three points
- Withdrawal from pain—four points
- Localized pain—five points
- Obedience to commands—six points
The point structure for eye-opening responses is:
- One point if the patient cannot open his or her eyes
- Two points if eyes are opened to pain
- Three points if eyes are opened to sound
- Four points if eyes are opened spontaneously
The professionals employing the Glasgow Coma Scale will add up the total points for all three types of responsiveness. It the total score is 8 or less, the TBI is considered to be severe. If the total score is less than 13, but greater than 8, it is deemed moderate. Scores of 13 or above indicate a mild brain injury.
Contact Us to Set Up an Appointment
At Advantage Healthcare Systems, we have extensive experience working successfully with individuals who suffer any type of concussion, TBI or traumatic brain injury. Call us toll-free at 1-877-487-8289 or fill out the form provided below to schedule an assessment. We offer locations across Texas, including Fort Worth, Dallas and San Antonio.
