The Parkland formula, also known as Baxter formula, is a burn

formula In science, a formula is a concise way of expressing information symbolically, as in a mathematical formula or a ''chemical formula''. The informal use of the term ''formula'' in science refers to the general construct of a relationship betwee ...

developed by

Charles R. Baxter Charles Rufus Baxter (November 4, 1929 – March 10, 2005) was an American doctor. Baxter was one of the doctors who unsuccessfully tried to save U.S. President John F. Kennedy after he was shot in Dallas, Texas, in 1963. He is also remembered for ...

, used to estimate the amount of replacement fluid required for the first 24 hours in a

burn A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ultraviolet radiation (like sunburn). Most burns are due to heat from hot liquids (called scalding), solids, or fire. Burns occur mainl ...

patient so as to ensure the patient is hemodynamically stable. The milliliter amount of fluid required for the first 24 hours – usually Lactated Ringer's – is four times the product of the body weight and the burn percentage (i.e.

body surface area In physiology and medicine, the body surface area (BSA) is the measured or calculated surface area of a human body. For many clinical purposes, BSA is a better indicator of metabolic mass than body weight because it is less affected by abnormal ad ...

affected by burns). The first half of the fluid is given within 8 hours from the burn incident, and the remaining over the next 16 hours. Only area covered by second-degree burns or greater is taken into consideration, as

first-degree burns A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ultraviolet radiation (like sunburn). Most burns are due to heat from hot liquids (called scalding), solids, or fire. Burns occur mainl ...

do not cause hemodynamically significant fluid shift to warrant fluid replacement. The Parkland formula is mathematically expressed as: :

V = 4 \cdot m \cdot (A \cdot 100)

where mass (m) is in kilograms (kg), area (A) as a percentage of total body surface area, and volume (V) is in milliliters (mL). For example, a person weighing 75 kg with burns to 20% of his or her body surface area would require 4 x 75 x 20 = 6,000 mL of fluid replacement within 24 hours. The first half of this amount is delivered within 8 hours from the burn incident, and the remaining fluid is delivered in the next 16 hours. The burn percentage in adults can be estimated by applying the

Wallace rule of nines The Wallace rule of nines is a tool used in pre-hospital and emergency medicine to estimate the total body surface area (BSA) affected by a burn. In addition to determining burn severity, the measurement of burn surface area is important for estimat ...

(see

total body surface area Total body surface area (TBSA) is an assessment of injury to or disease of the skin, such as burns or psoriasis. In adults, the Wallace rule of nines can be used to determine the total percentage of area burned for each major section of the body. ...

): 9% for each arm, 18% for each leg, 18% for the front of the

torso The torso or trunk is an anatomical term for the central part, or the core, of the body of many animals (including humans), from which the head, neck, limbs, tail and other appendages extend. The tetrapod torso — including that of a human � ...

, 18% for the back of the torso, and 9% for the head and 1% for the

perineum The perineum in humans is the space between the anus and scrotum in the male, or between the anus and the vulva in the female. The perineum is the region of the body between the pubic symphysis (pubic arch) and the coccyx (tail bone), includi ...

References

{{reflist

See also

References

Further reading