title: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Shriners Burns Institute-Boston Unit 02114, USA.
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Sheridan
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Petras
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Basha
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Salvo
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cifrino
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hinson
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McCabe
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fallon
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Tompkins
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000886:Anthropometry / Q000379:methods; D001830:Body Surface Area; D002056:Burns / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity