Resource Guide Glossary - Brain Injury Association of Waterloo-Wellington

Glossary of Terms

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Gait Training	Instruction in walking, with or without equipment; also called "ambulation training".
GI Tube	A tube inserted through a surgical opening into the stomach. It is used to introduce liquids, food, or medication into the stomach when the patient is unable to take these substances by mouth.
Glasgow Coma Scale	A standardized system used to assess the degree of brain impairment and to identify the seriousness of injury in relation to outcome. The system involves three determinants eye opening, verbal responses and motor response - all of which are evaluated independently according to a numerical value that indicates the level of consciousness and degree of dysfunction. Scores run from a high of 15 to a low of 3. Persons are considered to have experienced a "mild" head injury when their score is 13 to 15. A score of 9 to 12 is considered to reflect a "moderate" head injury and a score of 8 or less reflects a "severe" head injury.
Glasgow Outcome Scale	A system for classifying the outcome of head injury survivors. The categories range from "Good Recovery" in which the patient appears to regain the pre-injury level of social and career activity (even if there are some minor residual abnormal neurological signs); "Moderate Disability" in which the patient does not regain the former level of activity but is completely independent with respect to the activities of daily living; "Severe Disability" is defined as a state wherein the conscious, communicating patient is still dependent on the help of others. The original scale had five outcome categories. This scale relates to functional independence and not residual deficits.

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Material for the glossary was provided by the Ontario Brain Injury Association (OBIA).