New Coma Measurement System Developed by Mayo Clinic
Tool quantifies both level of consciousness and severity of brain injury
Neurologists at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota have developed a new clinical tool for assessing the depth of a coma. The new system has been labelled FOUR (Full Outline of UnResponsiveness), and is being proposed to replace the Glasgow Coma Scale, which has been the standard coma measuring scale for more than three decades.
Eye, motor, brain stem and respiratory function are all evaluated by the FOUR System, and given a score between zero (non-functioning) and four (normal). The FOUR System can be used on patients with breathing tubes, is simple to apply, can identify locked-in syndrome, and provides more accurate information for discussion with the patients family.
www.mayoclinic.org/news2005-rst/3023.html
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