The Revised Baux Score as a Predictor of Burn Mortality: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Mortality following a severe burn is influenced by both patient- and injury-factors, and a number of predictive models have been developed or applied. As there is no consensus on the optimal formula to use, we aimed to investigate the predictive value of the revised Baux score in comparison to other models when determining mortality risk in patients with burn injuries. A systematic review was performed following the PRISMA statement. The review yielded 21 relevant studies. The PROBAST quality appraisal checklist was used with many studies classified as "high" quality. All studies assessed the utility of the revised Baux score in comparison to other scoring systems such as the original Baux, BOBI, ABSI, APACHE II, SOFA, Boston Group/Ryan scores, the FLAMES model, the Prognostic Burn Index. There was a range of 48 to 15975 participants per study, with a mean age range of 16 to 52 years old. The AUC values of the rBaux score ranged from 0.682 to 0.99, with a summary AUC of 0.93 for all included studies (CI 0.91-0.95). This summary value demonstrates that the rBaux equation is a reliable predictor for mortality risk in heterogeneous populations. However, this study also identified that the rBaux equation has a diminished ability to predict mortality risk when applied to patients at both extremes of age, highlighting an important area for future research. Overall, the rBaux equation offers a relatively easy means to quickly assess the mortality risk from burn injury in a broad range of patient populations.