Parkland formula
First-day fluid volume after a burn: 4 mL × weight × percent body surface. Half goes in over the first 8 hours from the burn.
Updated · Methodology
About this calculator
The calculation gives the crystalloid volume for the first 24 hours: 4 mL per kilogram of body weight for each percent of burned surface. Half goes in over the first 8 hours, the other half over the following 16. Those eight hours are counted FROM THE BURN ITSELF, not from arrival at hospital, and this is the most common error: if the patient arrives three hours later, the first half has to go in over the remaining five. The area counts second-degree burns and deeper. Superficial erythema, a first-degree burn, is excluded, otherwise the volume comes out too high. The main point about use: the formula gives a starting point, not a 24-hour prescription. Fluids are then titrated to response, primarily urine output, usually targeting 0.5 mL/kg/h in adults. Over-resuscitation is itself dangerous and is described as fluid creep: it leads to oedema, limb and abdominal compartment syndrome, and deepening of the burn wounds. The formula is not used unmodified in children, who need the maintenance volume added by Holliday-Segar, because their physiological fluid requirement per kilogram is higher.
Source
Formula version: baxter-1968-v1
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