In ASA physical status classification, which grade corresponds to brain death?

In ASA physical status classification, which grade corresponds to brain death?

• A. I
• B. II
• C. III
• D. VI

Answer: (D)

ASA physical status classification describes a patient’s baseline health prior to anesthesia, with higher numbers signaling greater systemic disease burden and risk. Brain death falls into the highest category, reserved for a patient who has been declared brain-dead and is an organ donor. This designation reflects that the patient is legally dead, yet clinicians may maintain physiology to preserve organs for transplantation. The other grades describe progressively better health: a healthy patient; a patient with mild systemic disease; a patient with severe systemic disease that limits activity but is not life-threatening; a patient with severe systemic disease that is a constant threat to life; and a moribund patient not expected to survive without the operation. An emergency modifier can be appended when the surgery is urgent.

ASA physical status classification describes a patient’s baseline health prior to anesthesia, with higher numbers signaling greater systemic disease burden and risk. Brain death falls into the highest category, reserved for a patient who has been declared brain-dead and is an organ donor. This designation reflects that the patient is legally dead, yet clinicians may maintain physiology to preserve organs for transplantation. The other grades describe progressively better health: a healthy patient; a patient with mild systemic disease; a patient with severe systemic disease that limits activity but is not life-threatening; a patient with severe systemic disease that is a constant threat to life; and a moribund patient not expected to survive without the operation. An emergency modifier can be appended when the surgery is urgent.