Glasgow Coma Scale

I can't see that a GCS for an MS patient would be all that valuable... unless that person had suffered a head injury, a stroke, an MI or a drug overdose. The usefulness of the Glasgow Coma Scale in evaluating people with pre-existing neurological conditions is nebulous at best. The person doing the scoring will be misled if they aren't aware of the person's baseline performance. For example, someone with MS may not be able to move their arms or legs spontaneously and purposefully when they're at their best, but that doesn't automatically mean that they should score less than 6 for motor; they may not be able to speak intelligible words if their MS is severe and advanced, but if they can nod their head "yes" when you ask them if the sky is blue, then I'd be scoring them 5 for verbal. Would you? OP, your patient was admitted following a seizure and in that case and at that time the GCS would be applicable and appropriate BUT not necessarily an accurate reflection of their level of consciousness.

The Galsgow Coma Scale was originally developed as a prognosticating tool for recovery following head trauma. It was never intended to be the routine evaluation it has become. I found a really good article on the subject that might hel you understand it better: http://www.actaneurologica.be/acta/download/2008-3/01-matis%20et%20al.pdf. It's free to read online. I've only skimmed it, but I'm going to read it all right after I click "post".