Aldrete Recovery Score
Score five post-anesthesia criteria to determine PACU discharge readiness; a total of 9 or more (out of 10) indicates the patient meets standard discharge criteria.
Use the Aldrete Recovery Score
Post-Anesthesia Criteria
Select the best-matching description for each criterion.
Recovery Score Result
Select criteria above and click
Calculate Score
Breakdown
For clinical reference only. Always apply institutional PACU discharge protocols and full clinical judgment.
Summary
The modified Aldrete score is the standard tool used in post-anesthesia care units (PACUs) to objectively assess recovery from general or regional anesthesia. It evaluates five criteria — motor activity, respiratory effort, blood pressure, consciousness, and oxygen saturation — each scored 0 to 2, for a maximum of 10. Most institutions require a score of 9 or 10 before discharging a patient from the PACU to a general ward.
How it works
- Assess the patient on all five post-anesthesia criteria.
- Select the 0, 1, or 2 point value that best matches the patient's current status for each criterion.
- The calculator sums the five criteria scores in real time.
- A total score of 9–10 out of 10 meets standard PACU discharge criteria.
- Reassess periodically; patients below 9 require continued monitoring in the PACU.
- Document the score and the time of assessment in the anesthetic record.
Use cases
- Determining when a patient is ready for discharge from the PACU to the surgical ward.
- Standardizing post-anesthesia nursing assessments across care team members.
- Tracking recovery trajectory with serial scores after general or regional anesthesia.
- Anesthesia resident and nursing education on structured PACU evaluation.
- Quality improvement audits of post-operative recovery times.
- Documenting objective recovery status for medico-legal and billing records.