The GCS-pupils score is a clinical tool designed for assessing the severity of brain injury and predicting the 6-month post-injury mortality and unfavorable outcome rates. It is an extension of the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), with the addition of pupil reactivity to light, which has been shown to have prognostic value in traumatic brain injury.
The primary components of the GCS-pupils score include the patient's eye opening response, verbal response, motor response, and pupil response. Each of these components is scored based on the patient's observed behavior, with higher scores indicating better neurological function. The eye opening response is scored from 1 (no response) to 4 (spontaneous), the verbal response from 1 (no verbal response) to 5 (oriented), and the motor response from 1 (no motor response) to 6 (obeys commands). The pupil response is scored as -2 if both pupils are unreactive to light, -1 if one pupil is unreactive, and 0 if both pupils are reactive.
The total GCS-pupils score is calculated by summing the scores for the eye opening, verbal, and motor responses, and then subtracting the score for the pupil response. This total score can range from 1 to 15, with lower scores indicating a higher risk of 6-month post-injury mortality and unfavorable outcome. For example, a patient with a GCS-pupils score of 1 has a 74.45% risk of 6-month post-injury mortality and an 89.59% risk of unfavorable outcome, while a patient with a score of 15 has a 2.54% risk of 6-month post-injury mortality and an 11.75% risk of unfavorable outcome.
This scoring system provides clinicians with a standardized method for assessing the severity of brain injury and predicting patient outcomes, which can guide treatment decisions and facilitate communication about the patient's condition and prognosis.
Reference
Paul M Brennan, Gordon D Murray, Graham M Teasdale. Simplifying the use of prognostic information in traumatic brain injury. Part 1: The GCS-Pupils score: an extended index of clinical severity. J Neurosurg. 2018 Jun;128(6):1612-1620.
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