RESUMO
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate a calculating method of wound water loss (WWL) in hospitalized burn patients.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Eighty-five adult burn patients with total burn area over 50% were enrolled in the study. The WWL formula after shock stage (after 3rd postburn day) was given as: WWL (ml/%/kg/24 h) = [input (ml/24 h)-urine output (ml/24 h)-500 ml] / actual burn wound area(%) / body weight (kg). The result was compared with that determined by other formulas such as Davies, S.M.S.P and Lamke and palm rule.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The calculated daily WWL in burn patients after shock stage was found out to be 0.9 +/- 0.1 ml/%/kg/24 h by this method. This figure is comparable with that calculated by several different methods. Palm rule could be simply applied in the patients with body weight around 60 kg.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>This method and palm rule were proved to be simple and practical for the calculation of WWL in burn patients, which could be applied in clinical work.</p>