This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Rule of Nines

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Wallace's Rule of Nines provides a quick, approximation of the area of skin burnt. Arbitrarily, it divides the body up into units of surface area divisible by nine - with the exception of the perineum. Usually, charts of area are available in most burns units.

In an adult, the following are the respective percentages of the total body surface area:

  • head and neck total for front and back: 9%
  • each upper limb total for front and back: 9%
  • thorax and abdomen front: 18%
  • thorax and abdomen back: 18%
  • perineum: 1%
  • each lower limb total for front and back: 18%

The Rule of Nines is relatively accurate for adults but not for children due to the relative disproportion of body part surface area - see submenu.


Related pages

Create an account to add page annotations

Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.

The content herein is provided for informational purposes and does not replace the need to apply professional clinical judgement when diagnosing or treating any medical condition. A licensed medical practitioner should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

Connect

Copyright 2024 Oxbridge Solutions Limited, a subsidiary of OmniaMed Communications Limited. All rights reserved. Any distribution or duplication of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited. Oxbridge Solutions receives funding from advertising but maintains editorial independence.