The Glasgow Scale (GCS) is a neurological assessment tool used to record the level of consciousness of a person with brain damage, explores and quantifies 3 clinical observation parameters or criteria: eye response, verbal response and motor response.
Today, its use has spread so much that it has become the most used tool in the hospital and pre-hospital field, among its advantages is its simplicity of application and the fact that it has provided a common and objective language that facilitates communication. among professionals.
- It was developed in 1974 by two English neurosurgeans who were members of the Institute of Neurological Sciences at the University of Glasgow: Bryan Jennett and Graham Teasdale.
- Both published in Lancet magazine.
- Under the title Assessment of Coma and Disorders of Consciousness.
- The first version of this scale.
In the 1960s, Jennet created a database of all cases where head trauma (TCC) had occurred and had been treated in Glasgow, along with other collaborators from the Netherlands and the United States, a compilation that became the basis of Glasglow’s coma scale.
Gradually, it has become a central tool for objectively assessing the state of consciousness of PATIENTS with BSE. It was divided into 3 categories that individually evaluated 3 aspects of consciousness: eye opening, verbal response and motor response. The total score was 14 points.
The final version was created two years later, in 1976, it was decided to add a new point that considered the posture of cerebral decorization, sign of severe brain damage, this abnormal posture is characterized by the presentation of stiffness with the bent arms towards the person. body, fists with closed hands and very straight legs.
The 3 subscales were maintained, but the total score with this new addition increased by one point, so the maximum obtained has gone from 14 to 15, and is maintained to this day
The Glasgow Coma Scale was originally designed to estimate the severity of patients with head trauma; today it is used to evaluate less severe states of impaired consciousness in post-traumatic situations and other variables, such as coma depth and duration. .
When a person has a strong impact on the head, neurological examination should be performed as soon as possible, i. e. it should be simple, objective and fast.
The most important aspect to consider is the level of consciousness, so gcS in these cases is of paramount importance, so the score obtained by the patient allows to know the severity of the injury.
On the other hand, it allows you to identify deep coma states and see their evolution, so your application can be done over time to track fluctuations in these changes in the level of consciousness.
We assign values to each of the three aspects, assigning a score to the best response in each category, so the lowest total rating is 3 (1 1 1) and the highest, 15 (4 5 6). is determined on the basis of this total score and according to Gennarelli’s classification, in which:
On the other hand, this precision and relative simplicity have led to a rapid universalization of its use, as well as its application to evaluate other traumatic and non-traumatic pathologies, allowing even its attention in emergency situations and by different professionals.
It is a complete instrument, which evaluates 3 key aspects and can be used several times, as it offers longitudinal information on the patient’s evolution, so it is very useful in the initial phase of treatment.