American Society of Anesthesiology Classification


American Society of Anesthesiology Classification

A system used by anesthesiologists to stratify severity of patients' underlying disease and potential for suffering complications from general anesthesia
American Society of Anesthesiology patient classification status
ASA I
Normal healthy Pt
ASA II
Pt with mild systemic disease; no functional limitation–eg, smoker with well-controlled HTN
ASA III
Pt with severe systemic disease; definite functional impairment–eg, DM and angina with relatively stable disease, but requiring therapy
ASA IV
Pt with severe systemic disease that is a constant threat to life–eg, DM + angina + CHF; Pts have dyspnea on mild exertion and chest pain
ASA V
Unstable moribund Pt who is not expected to survive 24 hours with or without the operation
ASA VI
Brain-dead Pt whose organs are removed for donation to another
E
Emergency operation of any type, which is added to any of the 6 above categories, as in ASA II E