Which Glasgow Coma Scale range defines mild traumatic brain injury?

Which Glasgow Coma Scale range defines mild traumatic brain injury?

• A. 3-8
• B. 13-15
• C. 9-12
• D. 16-18

Answer: (B)

The essential idea here is using the Glasgow Coma Scale to grade brain injury by how well someone responds in three areas: eye opening, verbal response, and motor response. Each area contributes a score, and when you add them up you get a total that reflects overall brain function. The milder end of this scale corresponds to near-normal function in all three areas—a patient who is awake, oriented, speaks clearly, and moves purposefully with only minor or no confusion. That near-normal total defines mild traumatic brain injury. In contrast, lower totals indicate increasing impairment in one or more domains, which corresponds to moderate or severe injury. So the range representing mild TBI is the high end of the GCS total, where responses are near normal.

The essential idea here is using the Glasgow Coma Scale to grade brain injury by how well someone responds in three areas: eye opening, verbal response, and motor response. Each area contributes a score, and when you add them up you get a total that reflects overall brain function. The milder end of this scale corresponds to near-normal function in all three areas—a patient who is awake, oriented, speaks clearly, and moves purposefully with only minor or no confusion. That near-normal total defines mild traumatic brain injury. In contrast, lower totals indicate increasing impairment in one or more domains, which corresponds to moderate or severe injury. So the range representing mild TBI is the high end of the GCS total, where responses are near normal.