A coma scale is a system to assess the severity of

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...

. There are several such systems:

Glasgow Coma Scale

The Glasgow Coma Scale is

neurological Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal c ...

scale Scale or scales may refer to: Mathematics * Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points * Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original * Scale factor, a number ...

which aims to give a reliable, objective way of recording the conscious state of a person, for initial as well as continuing assessment. A patient is assessed against the criteria of the scale, and the resulting points give a patient score between 3 (indicating deep unconsciousness) and either 14 (original scale) or 15 (the more widely used modified or revised scale). GCS was initially used to assess level of consciousness after

head injury A head injury is any injury that results in trauma to the skull or brain. The terms ''traumatic brain injury'' and ''head injury'' are often used interchangeably in the medical literature. Because head injuries cover such a broad scope of in ...

and the scale is now used by

first aid First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with either a minor or serious illness or injury, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery. It includes initial in ...

, EMS and doctors as being applicable to all acute medical and

trauma Trauma most often refers to: *Major trauma, in physical medicine, severe physical injury caused by an external source * Psychological trauma, a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a severely distressing event *Traumatic inj ...

patients. In hospital it is also used in chronic patient monitoring, in for instance, intensive care.

Pediatric Glasgow Coma Scale

The Pediatric Glasgow Coma Scale (also known as Pediatric Glasgow Coma Score or simply PGCS) is the equivalent of the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) used to assess the mental state of adult patients. As many of the assessments for an adult patient would not be appropriate for infants, the scale was modified slightly. As with the GCS, the PGCS comprises three tests: eye, verbal and motor responses. The three values separately as well as their sum are considered. The lowest possible PGCS (the sum) is 3 (deep coma or death) whilst the highest is 15 (fully awake and aware person).

Blantyre Coma Scale

The Blantyre Coma Scale is a modification of the Pediatric Glasgow Coma Scale, designed to assess

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or deat ...

l coma in children. It was designed by doctors Terrie Taylor and Malcolm Molyneux in 1987, and named for the Malawian city of

Blantyre Blantyre () is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with an enumerated 800,264 inhabitants . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, Li ...

, site of the Blantyre Malaria Project.

Rancho Los Amigos Scale

The Rancho Los Amigos Scale is used to assess individuals after a closed head injury based on cognitive and behavioural presentations as they emerge from coma. It is named after the

Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center is a rehabilitation hospital located in Downey, California, United States. Its name in Spanish means 'Friends' Ranch'. History Overview Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, or Ran ...

, located in Downey, California, United States.

FOUR score

References