Glasgow Coma Scale Assessment

If the patient is not alert, evaluate them on the Glasgow Coma Scale. The Glasgow Coma Scale is an assessment based on numeric scoring of a patient's responses based on the patient's best response to eye opening, verbal response, and motor response. The patient's score (3 to 15) is determined by adding his/her highest eye opening, verbal response, and motor response scores. A patient with a GCS of 3 is fully unresponsive while a patient with a GCS of 15 is fully conscious and not confused.

The three categories: eye opening, verbal response, and motor response each have different values associated with them. These values may be remembered easily; they are 4, 5, 6 in order (coincidentally, your eyes, mouth and fingers are in order as you travel inferiorly from the top of the head). The categories are: Eyes 4, Verbal 5, and Motor 6.

Eyes

4 - Eyes open spontaneously

3 - Eyes open to verbal stimulation

2 - Eyes open to painful stimulation

1 - No response

Verbal Response

5 - Correct verbal response

4 - Confused

3 - Inappropriate words

2 - Incomprehensible sounds

1- No response

Motor Response

6 - Fully voluntary movement, obeys commands

5 - Localizes painful stimuli (moves other limbs towards pain, attempting to move stimulus away)

4 - Withdraws from painful stimuli

3 - Abnormal flexion to painful stimuli (Decorticate posturing)

2 - Abnormal extension to painful stimuli (Decerebrate posturing)

1 - No response

Self Assessment

Self-assessment

• Test your knowledge with this quiz.