The palmer method of estimating total body surface area tbsa is an easy way to get a rough burn size estimate that can be used when calculating a patients fluid resuscitation needs. To estimate your body surface area our bsa calculator uses the following formula 1.
Table 1 From A Simple Procedure For Estimation Of Total Body
Measurement of total body surface area. In adults the rule of nines is used to to approximate the percentage of burned surface area. Marquez bsn rn ccrn school of nursing lubbock christian university lubbock tx usa. Pre hospital measurement of total body surface area burn size accuracy. Direct measurement of bsa is difficult and as such many formulas have been published that estimate bsa. Where height is in meters and mass is in kg. This allows medical professionals to treat burn patients effectively to ensure the highest likelihood of recovery.
020247 x height m0725 x mass kg0425. An integrated research review sunday 28 july 2019. Total body surface area tbsa measures the area of a burn injury in comparison with the entire surface area of the body. Various body surface area formulas have been developed over the years originally by drs du bois du bois followed by gehan and george haycock boyd and mosteller. Bsa is a measurement used in many medical tasks. Total body surface areatbsa total body surface area tbsa is an assessment measure of burns of the skin burned surface area is calculated as a percentage of total body surface area to determine burn size.
These formulas all give slightly different results. For many clinical purposes bsa is a better indicator of metabolic mass than body weight because it is less affected by abnormal adipose mass. The normal body surface area is generally taken to be 17 m2 but in actual fact the body surface area depends on more than just height and weight. Nevertheless there have been several important critiques of the use of bsa in determining the dosage of medications with a narrow therapeutic index such as chemotherapy. The result is in squared meters which easily be converted to square feet inches or yards as needed. Courtesy of the american burn association.
According to mostellers simplified calculation of body surface area in metric terms the body surface area the square root of product of the weight in kg times the height in cm divided by 3600. Typically there is a 410 fold variation in drug clearance between. According to the national institutes of health burns that are greater than 20 to 25 percent of total body surface area require significant intravenous iv fluids. Doctors will also use the. This relationship is used by medical professionals to determine the severity of the burn. In physiology and medicine the body surface area is the measured or calculated surface area of a human body.
The calculator below provides results for some of the most popular formulas. The patients palmar surface including their fingers 1 tbsa. Body surface area calculator the calculator below computes the total surface area of a human body referred to as body surface area bsa.