What Glasgow Coma Scale score indicates severe brain injury?

A Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score of 8 or lower indicates severe brain injury. The GCS is a neurological scale aimed at assessing a person's level of consciousness after a brain injury. It evaluates three aspects: eye opening, verbal response, and motor response, resulting in a score that can range from 3 to 15.

A score of 8 or less signifies a state of altered consciousness, often indicating the need for immediate medical intervention such as intubation to secure the airway, as patients at this level may be unable to protect their airway due to compromised levels of consciousness. This score is frequently associated with conditions like coma or severe head trauma, where the brain's functional integrity is significantly compromised.

Higher scores, such as those in the ranges of 9 to 12 or 10 to 13, indicate varying degrees of moderate brain injury or mild alteration of consciousness but do not signify the severity associated with scores of 8 or lower. A score of 14 or higher indicates a normal level of consciousness, which points to a much less severe brain state. Therefore, understanding these score ranges is crucial for triaging and managing cases of head injury effectively.