Question

You are examining a 48-year-old patient who has been burned. You decide to use the rule of palm to measure the extent of the burn. What does this mean?

A. The palm of your hand represents 1% of the body's surface area.
B. The palm of the patient's hand equals about 1% of the body's surface area.
C. You can only use the rule of palm for children, so you would use the rule of nines instead.
D. The palm of the patient's hand equals 9% of the body's surface area.

Answer 1

The rule of palm is used to estimate the extent of a burn, indicating that the palm of the patient's hand represents about 1% of the body's surface area. Option B is correct for measuring burn extent with this rule.

Step-by-step explanation:

The rule of palm is a method used to estimate the extent of a burn. According to this rule, the palm of the patient's hand (including the fingers) is approximately equal to 1% of the body’s total surface area. When assessing the size of a burn, medical professionals can use the patient's palm as a reference to estimate the total percentage of the body that has been affected by the burn.

To clarify the options provided, the answer is B: The palm of the patient's hand equals about 1% of the body's surface area. This is a useful technique for quickly assessing burns, especially in situations where more precise tools or methods (like the rule of nines) cannot be easily applied. The rule of nines is another system used more methodically to estimate larger or more complicated areas of burns and assigns percentages in multiples of nine to various parts of the body. However, for small or irregularly shaped burns, the rule of palm serves as a good immediate assessment tool.