Citation

Meel Banwari L. Afr. Health Sci. 2015; 15(3): 1038-1040.

Affiliation

Faculty of Health Sciences, Walter Sisulu University. P/bag X1, Mthatha, 5117, South Africa.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Faculty of Medicine, Makerere University)

DOI

10.4314/ahs.v15i3.45

PMID

26957999

PMCID

PMC4765444

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is considered as a gold standard in estimating the prognosis of the comatose patient. The management of the patient relies heavily on this scale. The mechanism of injury must also be included in scoring of the GCS. Survival from strangulation is uncommon, and if it occurs, it is often associated with various complications such as neurological consequences.

OBJECTIVE: To highlight a poor correlation with low GCS and ultimate outcome in cases of manual strangulation. CASE REPORT: This is a case report of young female adult who was raped and manually strangulated by a colleague during a training course for traditional healers. She was admitted with very low (3/15) Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) and presumed to have a poor prognosis. She was rigorously ventilated in Intensive Care Unit (ICU), and was discharged from hospital after a week without any complications. The neck and genital injuries are described. This report discusses.

CONCLUSION: A low Glasgow Coma Scale is not a predictive of poor prognosis in cases of manual strangulation.

Language: en