TY - JOUR PY - 2010// TI - The motor response to stimulation predicts outcome as well as the full Glasgow Coma Scale in children with severe head injury JO - Pediatric critical care medicine A1 - Fortune, Peter-Marc A1 - Shann, Frank SP - 339 EP - 342 VL - 11 IS - 3 N2 - OBJECTIVES:: To evaluate how well the full Glasgow Coma Scale and the motor response, which is a subscore of the Glasgow Coma Scale, predict the outcome in children who have sustained a traumatic brain injury. The best scores in the first 24 hrs were used. DESIGN:: A retrospective observational study. SETTING:: A pediatric intensive care unit. PATIENTS:: Children admitted between January 1997 and December 1999. INTERVENTIONS:: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS:: Recovery with independent function (good outcome), or death, persistent coma, or dependent (bad outcome) at 6 months after the injury. Complete information was available for 130 patients. Both the full Glasgow Coma Scale and the motor response predicted outcome well: the area under the receiver operating characteristic plot was 0.88 (95% confidence interval, 0.82-0.95) for the full score and 0.89 (0.82-0.95) for the motor response. CONCLUSIONS:: Both the full Glasgow Coma Scale score and the motor response provide a useful indication of long-term outcome, although neither score is sufficiently accurate to be used to limit treatment. The full Glasgow Coma Scale does not have a linear relationship with mortality, and there is poor interobserver agreement. The motor response should be used in children in preference to the full Glasgow Coma Scale; the predictive power is equivalent to the full Glasgow Coma Scale, there is a linear relationship to mortality, and it is easier to collect accurately.
Language: en
LA - en SN - 1529-7535 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/PCC.0b013e3181c014ab ID - ref1 ER -