Head trauma is unfortunately very common in the United States and is a leading cause of death in the young adult age group. Diagnosing the severity of a head injury is an inexact science but one common scoring system used widely is called the Glasgow Coma Scale.
Patients are assigned points in three categories: eye opening (1-4); best verbal response (1-5); and best motor response (1-6). The lowest score is 3 which is a coma and the highest score is 15 which is minimal injury. The category that surgeons look at most closely is the best motor response.
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