Planimetry Study of the Percent of Body Surface Represented by the Hand and Palm: Sizing Irregular Burns Is More Accurately Done With the Palm

Abstract
Sizing irregular burns is commonly done with use of the patient's hand as a template representing 1% of the body surface. To verify that this is accurate over a broad range of ages or to see if the surface of the palm is a more consistent template, a planimetry study was done. This revealed that the surface area of the palm averaged 0.52% total body surface area (±0.07) and the palmar surface of the hand 0.85% total body surface area (+0.08). The surface of the palm was a more consistent template and represented 0.5% of the body surface over a broad range of ages.

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