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Glasgow Coma Scale Pediatric
Updated: Dec 04, 2018
Author: Buck Christensen; Chief Editor: Buck Christensen more...
Pediatric Glasgow Coma Scale
The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is used to describe the general level of consciousness in patients
with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to define broad categories of head injury. [1] The GCS is divided
Tables
into 3 categories, eye opening (E), motor response (M), and verbal response (V). The score is
determined by the sum of the score in each of the 3 categories, with a maximum score of 15 and a
Table 1. Glasgow Coma Scale
minimum score of 3, as follows:
GCS score = E + M + V
Eye Opening
Also see Medscape’s Glasgow Coma Scale Calculator.
Table 1. Glasgow Coma Scale (Open Table in a new window)
Score Age 1 Year or Older Age 01 Year
Eye Opening
4 Spontaneously Spontaneously
3 To verbal command To shout
4 Spontaneously Spontaneously
2 To pain To pain
3 To verbal command To shout
1 No response No response
2 To pain To pain
Best Motor Response
1 No response No response
Best Motor Response
https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/2058902-overview 1/3
7/8/2019 Glasgow Coma Scale - Pediatric: Pediatric Glasgow Coma Scale
6 Obeys command
6 Obeys command
4 Flexion withdrawal Flexion withdrawal
5 Localizes pain Localizes pain
3 Flexion abnormal (decorticate) Flexion abnormal (decorticate)
4 Flexion withdrawal Flexion withdrawal
2 Extension (decerebrate) Extension (decerebrate)
3 Flexion abnormal (decorticate) Flexion abnormal (decorticate)
1 No response No response
2 Extension (decerebrate) Extension (decerebrate)
Best Verbal Response
1 No response No response
Score Age >5 Years Age 25 Years Age 02 Years
Best Verbal Response
5 Oriented and converses Appropriate words Cries appropriately
Interpretation
Patients who are intubated are unable to speak, and their verbal score cannot be assessed. They are
evaluated only based on eye opening and motor scores, and the suffix T is added to their score to
indicate intubation. In intubated patients, the maximum GCS score is 10T and the minimum score is
2T. The GCS is often used to help define the severity of TBI. Mild head injuries are generally defined
as those associated with a GCS score of 1315, and moderate head injuries are those associated with
a GCS score of 912. 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.
https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/2058902-overview 3/3