Question

A patient was burned and has blisters to the chest, abdomen, entire right arm, and front of the right leg. According to the rule of nines, what is the percent of burns?

(A) 40.5%
(B) 36%
(C) 45%
(D) 31.5%

Answer 1

Calculating the percentages assigned to each burned body part by the rule of nines, the total body surface area burned for the chest, abdomen, entire right arm, and front of the right leg amounts to 31.5%, making the correct answer (D) 31.5%.

Step-by-step explanation:

The patient with burns to the chest, abdomen, entire right arm, and front of the right leg can have the percentage of burns calculated using the rule of nines. The rule of nines divides the body into areas that each represent 9% of the body surface or a factor thereof. For this patient:

Chest and abdomen together are typically assigned 18% (9% each).

The entire right arm accounts for 9%.The front of one leg is approximately 4.5% (half of the 9% for the whole leg).Adding these together, 18% (chest and abdomen) + 9% (right arm) + 4.5% (front of right leg) results in a total of 31.5% of the body burnt. Therefore, the answer is (D) 31.5%.