In Reply

I thank Drs. Avidan and Weiniger for their comments on my article.1 Their suggestion and use of the acronym KISS (keep it simple stupid) summarizes the point of my editorial much more succinctly than my two pages. I could not agree more with them that adding nonvalidated examples to a simple, “commonsense” categorization may hobble the time-honored utility and universal use of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Physical Status Classification System. I smiled when I saw the veterinary reference in their letter. I had originally referenced a study using the ASA classificat ion in veterinary anesthesia but removed it due to space constraints.2 Anesthesiologists need to be extremely cautious before altering a tool as far-reaching and surprisingly robust as the ASA classification in the practice of medicine, even across genera.
Source: Anesthesiology - Category: Anesthesiology Source Type: research