Preclinical calculation of burn size: a method of estimation for pre-hospital use

The percentage of body area burnt is considered a key tool in the management of patients with burns. Curently, there is no general consensus on which method of estimation is the most effective in pre-hospital care.

This literature review was conducted in 2016 to identify the most accurate methods of burn size calculation for the pre-hospital environment. The author carried out a systematic search of three large databases (MEDLINE, AMED and CINAHL) using well-specified search terms. The clearly presented search strategy section includes a table identifying the number of results for each search, which culminates in a total of 6535 papers. These were then further assessed against inclusion/exclusion criteria which ultimately eliminated all of these papers.

The author subsequently altered the search strategy to include all text fields on EBSCOhost, MEDLINE and COCHRANE, and used structured hand searching and citation tracking of publications and journals, as well as validation studies for new technology and non-burn specific papers relevant to assessment of percentage body areas. The search was further widened by removing the restriction on publication date and from this, 14 papers were deemed clinically relevant.