A healthy 25-year-old non-smoker with no systemic disease is scheduled for elective surgery. Which ASA physical status class applies?

A healthy 25-year-old non-smoker with no systemic disease is scheduled for elective surgery. Which ASA physical status class applies?

• A. ASA I
• B. ASA II
• C. ASA III
• D. ASA IV

Answer: (A)

Think of ASA physical status as a way to describe preoperative systemic health. A normal, healthy patient with no systemic disease and no functional limitations fits ASA I. The description—young, healthy, non-smoker, no systemic disease—has minimal perioperative risk, so ASA I is the best fit. If there were mild systemic disease (even if well controlled) it would be ASA II; more significant disease with functional limits would be ASA III; and life-threatening systemic disease would be ASA IV. So, this patient is ASA I.

Think of ASA physical status as a way to describe preoperative systemic health. A normal, healthy patient with no systemic disease and no functional limitations fits ASA I. The description—young, healthy, non-smoker, no systemic disease—has minimal perioperative risk, so ASA I is the best fit. If there were mild systemic disease (even if well controlled) it would be ASA II; more significant disease with functional limits would be ASA III; and life-threatening systemic disease would be ASA IV. So, this patient is ASA I.