Association of Postoperative Outcomes with the Pre-op Categorization Based on the American Society of Anesthesia Class in Emergency General Surgery Patients

Introduction: Emergency general surgery patients are at higher risk of postoperative complications and mortality compared to elective surgery patients. The American Society of Anaesthesiologists’ (ASA) classification system is a tool for assessing the pre-operative co-morbidity status and predicting peri-operative risk and mortality. Aims & Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the association between ASA class and postoperative outcomes in emergency general surgery patients. Place and Duration of Study: Hayatabad Medical Complex, MTI, Peshawar, from September 2022 to March 2023. Materials & Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 192 emergency general surgery patients enrolled through a non-probability, consecutive sampling technique. ASA class using the ASA scoring system, demographic data, comorbidities, and postoperative outcomes (including cardiac complications, surgical site infections, readmissions, and mortality) were recorded. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS version 23, with a significance level set at p ? 0.05. Results: Patients were classified into ASA classes I to IV, with varying rates of comorbidities and postoperative outcomes across the groups. Significant associations were observed between ASA class and cardiac complications (p = 0.008), surgical site infections (p = 0.038), and mortality (p = 0.001). However, no significant association was found for venous thromboembolism (p = 0.127) or readmissions (p = 0.465). Conclusion: ASA class is significantly associated with postoperative outcomes, including cardiac complications, surgical site infections, and mortality, in emergency general surgery patients. While venous thromboembolism and readmissions did not show significant associations, higher ASA classes still indicated a greater risk.