Journal of neurotrauma
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Journal of neurotrauma · Sep 2000
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical TrialCHOP Infant Coma Scale ("Infant Face Scale"): a novel coma scale for children less than two years of age.
The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is the most frequently used tool worldwide for assessing the severity of neurologic injury after brain trauma, although applying this scale to infants and younger children can be problematic. The CHOP Infant Coma Scale, or Infant Face Scale (IFS), is a novel scale for children under 2 years of age which differs from other pediatric coma scales in the following ways: (1) it relies on objective behavioral observations; (2) it assesses cortical as well as brainstem function; (3) it parallels the GCS in scoring but is based on infant-appropriate behaviors; and (4) it can be applied to intubated patients. We report the results of a prospective study designed to compare interrater reliability between the IFS and GCS in children less than 2 years of age. ⋯ When applied to infants in an intensive care unit with acute traumatic brain injury or hypoxia/ischemia, the GCS interrater reliability scores were in the "fair" range, while the IFS scores were in the "almost perfect" range. The IFS demonstrates improved interrater reliability in direct comparison to the GCS, particularly in the "verbal/face" component where most pediatric coma scales are deficient. The IFS may prove to be a simple and practical bedside index of brain injury severity in children less than two years of age.