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 betwe ...

developed by Charles R. Baxter, the former director of the

emergency department An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the Acute (medicine), ...

at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, TX in the 1960's and the founder of the facility's burn unit. The formula is 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, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ionizing radiation (such as sunburn, caused by ultraviolet radiation). Most burns are due to heat from hot fluids (called scalding), soli ...

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 eight 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 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), burned area (A) as a fraction 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 eight 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 (see total body surface area): 9% for each arm, 18% for each leg, 18% for the front of the

torso The torso or trunk is an anatomical terminology, anatomical term for the central part, or the core (anatomy), core, of the body (biology), body of many animals (including human beings), from which the head, neck, limb (anatomy), limbs, tail an ...

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

perineum The perineum (: perineums or perinea) in placentalia, placental mammals is the space between the anus and the genitals. The human perineum is between the anus and scrotum in the male or between the anus and vulva in the female. The perineum is ...

References

{{reflist

See also

References

Further reading