What is the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score for a patient with limited response and a deformed right arm?

The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is a clinical tool used to assess a patient's level of consciousness based on three aspects: eye opening, verbal response, and motor response. Each of these components is scored individually, and the total score ranges from 3 to 15, with lower scores indicating a more severe level of impaired consciousness.

In this scenario, the patient exhibits limited responsiveness and a deformed right arm. To determine the GCS score, we would need to assess each component:

• Eye Opening: This can vary based on the patient's responsiveness. In cases of limited response, the patient might score 1 (no response) or 2 (to pain).

• Verbal Response: Limited response may indicate a score of 1 (no verbal response) or potentially 2 (incomprehensible sounds) depending on the context of their responses.

• Motor Response: The deformation of the right arm suggests that this may influence the score, particularly if the patient is unable to move that arm in a purposeful way. Generally, a purposeful movement would score 6, while flexion to pain scores 4, and non-purposeful movements would score lower.

If we consider the patient scoring a total of 8, this implies