The Glasgow Coma Scale: 50 Years of Simplifying Brain Injury Assessment

Half a century ago, the medical community got a game-changer. Sir Graham Teasdale and Bryan Jennett introduced the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) in The Lancet. They wanted a clear, easy-to-use tool to rate coma levels. Back then, doctors used different words for consciousness. It was confusing. The GCS changed that with numbers. No one knew then how big this would be. But looking back, it arrived just when brain injury research and care were taking off. The scale was simple, respected, and came at a time when brain imaging technology was advancing. It opened new doors for treating brain injuries and other neurological diseases. Even today, despite other scales being proposed, the GCS is still a go-to for doctors. Its sister scale, the Glasgow Outcome Scale, also remains key in brain surgery and research.