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Cited by 91Traumatic Brain Injury and Neurovascular DisturbancesTraumatic Brain Injury ResearchTrauma and Emergency Care Studies

Head injuries in infants and young children: the value of the Paediatric Coma Scale: Review of literature and report on a study

Simpson, D.A., Cockington, R.A., Hanieh, A., Raftos, J., Reilly, P.L.·1991·Child s Nervous System
DOI 10.1007/bf00249393
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Abstract

The normal verbal and motor responses embodied in the standard Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) are not achievable during the first few years of life. The recent literature contains numerous reports of attempts to devise scales of responses quantitating the conscious level in infants and young children, both for research purposes and as clinical guides; some of these scales incorporate items, e.g. brainstem reflexes, that are not included in the GCS. We have reported on a simple paediatric version of the GCS, which uses the standard scale with minor modifications in the verbal component, and sets realistic age-related normal responses. This has been tested prospectively in a series of 60 head-injured infants and children (age range 0-72 months). Of 6 cases recorded as comatose 6 h after injury, 4 have confirmed or suspected residual disabilities. Of 35 cases considered to be fully conscious at 6 h, 31 have made good recoveries and only 1 has suspected residual disabilities. The study suggests that the scale accords with the realities of neurological immaturity, and confirms that it can be used in routine paediatric practice. For comparative therapeutic trials, the conscious level in infants has limited value as an index of brain injury, and should be complemented by other indices, such as brainstem reflexes.

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  • Little data exist in the pediatric literature regarding the predictive value of the GCS, especially in very young, pre-verbal children.

    “In addition, little data exist in the pediatric literature regarding the predictive value of the GCS, especially in very young, pre-verbal children [19].”

    From Update of Endocrine Dysfunction following Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury (2015) · cites this paper as [19]

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Authors
Simpson, D. A., Cockington, R. A., Hanieh, A., Raftos, J., & Reilly, P. L.
Affiliations
  • The University of Adelaide (AU)
  • Women's and Children's Hospital (AU)
  • Royal Adelaide Hospital (AU)
ORCID
Reilly, P.L.
Venue
Child s Nervous System
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
1991-08
Volume
7
Issue
4
Pages
183-90
ISSN
  • 0256-7040 (ISSN-L)
  • 1433-0350
DOI
10.1007/bf00249393
OpenAlex
W2883228867
Cited by
91
References
32
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 8
FWCI
1.92
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
Locations
  • Child s Nervous System (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Adelaide Research & Scholarship (AR&S) (University of Adelaide) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Traumatic Brain Injury and Neurovascular Disturbances
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Traumatic Brain Injury Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Emergency Medicine › Trauma and Emergency Care Studies
Keywords
Glasgow Coma Scale, traumatic brain injury, infants, young children, level of consciousness assessment, brainstem reflexes, prognostic value, residual disability
MeSH terms
Brain, Brain Damage, Chronic, Brain Injuries, Child, Child, Preschool, Coma, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Infant, Neurologic Examination, Psychometrics, Retrospective Studies, Glasgow Coma Scale

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