Body Surface Area
Body Surface Area - a deterministic tool in Sophie Well's Clinical Math & Conversions group.
Open the Body Surface Area → Runs in your browser. No signup, no tracking.
What this is
Compute body surface area from height and weight using both the Du Bois (1916) and Mosteller (1987) formulas, side by side. Sophie Well accepts metric or US units, returns BSA in m^2 rounded to two decimals, and shows both formulas so you can match whichever the order set or institutional protocol cites.
When to use it
Use this whenever a dose is BSA-indexed - chemotherapy regimens, pediatric drug dosing, cardiac index calculations - or when a fluid or steroid plan calls for mg/m^2. Mosteller is the typical bedside default because the math is simpler; Du Bois is the historical reference standard. Both diverge from measured BSA at the extremes of body habitus.
References
Du Bois D, Du Bois EF. Arch Intern Med. 1916;17:863. Mosteller RD. N Engl J Med. 1987;317(17):1098.
Worked example: Du Bois ~1.85 m^2; Mosteller ~1.84 m^2
Sophie Well is a reference and educational tool. Not medical, legal, or financial advice. Does not replace clinician judgment, professional billing review, or legal counsel.