This calculator is for general information and education. It is not medical advice and does not replace the judgment of a doctor, nurse or pharmacist who knows the full clinical picture.
The Baux score is the simplest predictor of death after a burn injury. Proposed by the French surgeon Serge Baux in 1961, it adds two numbers: the patient’s age and the percentage of total body surface area (TBSA) burned. In 2010, Turner Osler and colleagues showed that smoke inhalation injury weighs as much as 17 years of age or 17% of burned surface, and proposed the revised Baux score.
The formula
- Classic Baux = age + %TBSA
- Revised Baux = age + %TBSA + 17 if inhalation injury
Only partial-thickness and full-thickness burns count in the TBSA; superficial burns (like sunburn) do not. The rule of nines or the Lund and Browder chart are used to estimate it.
Example
A 45-year-old with burns over 30% of the body and no inhalation injury has a Baux score of 75. If the same patient had also inhaled smoke, the revised score would be 92.
Interpretation
When Baux published his score, a total of 100 was close to fatal. Burn care has improved so much that the threshold has moved by more than 30 points:
| Revised Baux | Usual meaning today |
|---|---|
| under 75 | low risk of death in a burn center |
| 75 to 109 | serious burn with a significant risk of death |
| 110 to 139 | about half or more of patients die |
| 140 or more | survival is exceptional |
In modern series, the score at which half of patients die (LD50) lies around 110, and figures vary between centers and countries.
What the score is for
- Triage and transfer decisions in mass-casualty incidents.
- Discussions with families and, at very high scores, about the goals of care.
- Comparing outcomes between burn centers.
Limits
The score ignores pre-existing disease, frailty, the depth of the burn, associated injuries and the delay before treatment, all of which change the outcome. It is less reliable in children, for whom the age term makes little sense. Decisions are taken by the burn team with the patient and family, never from the score alone.
Any burn larger than about 10% of the body in an adult (5% in a child), a burn of the face, hands, feet, genitals or joints, a chemical or electrical burn, or suspected smoke inhalation needs emergency care: call 911.