Decorticate Posture Gcs
Assessment and prognosis of coma after head injury.
Decorticate posture gcs. The glasgow coma scale gcs is a reliable and universally comparable way of recording the conscious state of a person. Decorticate and decerebrate posturing are both considered pathological posturing responses to usually noxious stimuli from an external or internal source. Decorticate posture is stiff with legs held out straight fists clenched and arms bent to hold the hands on the chest.
The lower the score the lower the patient s conscious state. Assessment of coma and impaired consciousness. The signs can be on just one side of the body or on both sides the signs may only be present in the upper limbs.
As well as the total figure the gcs can be expressed as subscores. Decorticate posturing abnormal extension response to pain 2 points abnormal extension to a painful stimulus is also known as decerebrate posturing. Decerebrate posturing indicates brain stem damage.
Specifically it involves slow flexion of the elbow wrist and fingers with adduction and internal rotation at the shoulder. Both involve stereotypical movements of. Decorticate posturing is described as abnormal flexion of the arms with the extension of the legs.
Some centres score gcs out of 14 not 15 omitting withdrawal to pain. Decorticate posturing is a type of abnormal or pathologic posturing not to. Flexion in response to pain decorticate posturing 3 points extension response in response to pain decerebrate posturing 2 points no response 1 point references teasdale g jennett b.
In decerebrate posturing the head is extended with the arms and legs also extended and internally rotated. Three types of response are measured and added together to give an overall score. Teasdale g jennett b.