Common brain injury terms

This section is designed to provide a glossary of terms, explaining some of the different words you might hear when reading information on, or talking about, brain injury.

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Your search results for 'Coma'

Coma

A state of deep and often prolonged unconsciousness.

Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS)

A score given to head injured patients starting immediately after the head injury to measure the degree of unconsciousness. A score of 7 or less indicates that the person is in a coma. A maximum score of 15 indicates that the person can speak coherently, obey commands to move, and can spontaneously open their eyes.

Head injury - moderate

Defined as being a condition where the patient has been in a coma for 6 hours, and a period of post-traumatic amnesia of up to 24 hours.

Head injury - severe

Defined as being a condition where the patient has been in a coma for 6 hours or more, or a post-traumatic amnesia of 24 hours or more.

Somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs)

Electrical responses of the brain recorded from the scalp following stimulation of nerves in the limbs. Failure to obtain SSEPs in someone in coma following an anoxic brain injury is associated with a poor outcome.

Vegetative state (VS)

After a very severe brain injury, there may be a transition from coma into a vegetative state. Basic functions such as breathing and maintaining the heartbeat and blood pressure all continue, but without evidence of consciousness in any meaningful sense and with no response to the environment and no ability to communicate.