Weill Cornell Medicine Care Discover Teach
Weill Cornell Medicine — Pediatric Critical Care Medicine

Body Surface Area

All calculations should be independently verified prior to clinical use. These calculators are intended to supplement, not replace, clinical judgment.

Calculate body surface area (BSA) from weight and height using the DuBois & DuBois formula, with optional unit conversion from pounds and inches.

m²

The calculation uses the formula of DuBois and DuBois (1916):

BSA = W 0.425 × H 0.725 × 0.007184

where W is weight in kilograms and H is height in centimeters. Weight in pounds is converted to kg (÷ 2.2046) and height in inches to cm (× 2.54) before calculation. The result is given in square meters (m²), rounded to three decimal places.

The DuBois formula is the most widely used BSA equation in clinical practice. Wang et al. (1992) provide a comparative analysis of BSA predictors across different patient populations.

References

  1. DuBois D, DuBois EF. A formula to estimate the approximate surface area if height and weight be known. Arch Intern Med. 1916;17(6):863–871.
  2. Wang Y, Moss J, Thisted R. Predictors of body surface area. J Clin Anesth. 1992;4(1):4–10.