Glasgow Coma Scale

Rapid, reproducible assessment of consciousness level in patients with brain injury. Use for trauma, stroke, intoxication, and post-procedural monitoring.

Eye opening to spontaneous, sound, pressure, or none

Verbal response quality or airway status

Motor response to central stimulus

Select responses above and click Calculate

Clinical Notes & Warnings

  • GCS ≤ 8: Severe brain injury — intubation and ICP monitoring usually indicated.
  • GCS 9–12: Moderate impairment — close neuro monitoring, frequent reassessment.
  • GCS 13–15: Mild impairment — may not need intensive neuro monitoring.
  • Intubated (T): Report as E_VTM (e.g., E4VTM6). Do NOT include verbal score.
  • Not Testable (NT): Do not report a total score if any component is NT.
  • Intoxication (alcohol, benzodiazepines) can falsely lower GCS — reassess when cleared.
  • Pediatric GCS modifies verbal response for preverbal children.

Always report GCS in E_V_M_ format (e.g., E4V5M6 = GCS 15) for clarity and reproducibility.

References

  1. Teasdale G, Jennett B. Assessment of coma and impaired consciousness: a practical scale. Lancet 1974;304(7872):81-84. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(74)91639-0
  2. Glasgow Coma Scale — StatPearls. NCBI Bookshelf / NIH (2024). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK513298/
  3. Modified Glasgow Coma Scale for Infants and Children. Merck Manual. Merck Manual