Understanding Anesthesiology - The Global Regional Anesthesia ...

ASA class
The ASA (American Society of Anesthesiologists) classification was defined in the 1940‘s as
an attempt to identify operative risk. It is not an accurate predictor of peri-operative risk in
current practice nor does it lend itself to inter-rater reliability. It is, however, an accepted
method of indicating the overall physical condition of the patient.
ASA CLASS
1
DESCRIPTION
A normal healthy patient in need of surgery for a localized
condition.
2
A patient with mild to moderate systemic disease; examples
include controlled hypertension, mild asthma.
3
4
A patient with severe systemic disease; examples include
complicated diabetes, uncontrolled hypertension, stable
angina.
A patient with life-threatening systemic disease; examples
include renal failure or unstable angina.
5
A moribund patient who is not expected to survive 24
hours with or without the operation; examples include a
patient with a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm in
profound hypovolemic shock.
Related Glossary Terms
Pre-operative assessment
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Chapter 2 - Pre-operative Evaluation