The Blantyre coma scale is a modification of the
Pediatric Glasgow Coma Scale, designed to assess
malaria
Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...
l
coma
A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to Nociception, respond normally to Pain, painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal Circadian rhythm, sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate ...
in
children
A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...
.
It was designed by Terrie Taylor and
Malcolm Molyneux in 1987, and named for the
Malawi
Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...
an city of
Blantyre, site of the Blantyre Malaria Project.
[Taylor, T. (2009) Caring for children with cerebral malaria: insights gleaned from 20 years on a research ward in Malawi. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 103 (Suppl 1): S6-S10 DoI: 10.1016/j.trstmh.2008.10.049]
Using the scale
The score assigned by the Blantyre coma scale is a number from 0 to 5. The score is determined by adding the results from three groups: Motor response, verbal response, and eye movement.
The minimum score is 0 which indicates poor results while the maximum is 5 indicating good results. All scores under 5 are considered abnormal.
Eye movement
* 1 – Watches or follows
* 0 – Fails to watch or follow
Best motor response
* 2 – Localizes painful stimulus (patient's ability to remove stimuli)
* 1 – Withdraws limb from painful stimulus
* 0 – No response or inappropriate response
Best verbal response
* 2 – Cries appropriately with pain, or, if verbal, speaks
* 1 – Moan or abnormal cry with pain
* 0 – No vocal response to pain
References
External links
Article on Dr Taylor and the Blantyre Malaria Project
Medical scales
Malaria
Coma
Medical assessment and evaluation instruments
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