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3.3 Body Region

For injury-related deaths, affected body regions were determined according to the International Classification of Disease, 10th Revision⁷ (ICD-10) diagnosis codes (see Section 5.1 for more information about the underlying data). The reportable body region categories are based on standard groupings of these diagnosis codes in the ICD-10 injury mortality diagnosis matrix pdf icon[pdf 38K]. This matrix was partially collapsed due to small numbers of injury-related deaths associated with some body region by nature-of-injury combinations.

The reportable body region categories for injury-related deaths are shown below (Table 6). Each level of indentation corresponds to a data selection detail level (see Section 2.3). In instances where there is no further breakdown (e.g., torso) the category is repeated at the next level so that data can be reported for any or all deaths regardless of the selected level of detail.

For injuries resulting in hospitalization subsequent to emergency department (ED) treatment or injuries resulting in an ED visit followed by release (without hospitalization or other transfer), the primary body region affected was assigned by trained hospital coders. Such assignment is based on the principal diagnosis (usually associated with the most severely injured body region) according to narrative information in patient medical records (see Section 5.2 for more information about the underlying data). The assigned body region codes were translated, as closely as possible, to corresponding body region groupings in the Barell Injury Diagnosis matrix pdf icon[pdf 65K]. Injuries to spinal and back regions could not be discerned based on assigned body region codes; these injuries are counted under either the head & neck category or the torso category.

The reportable body region categories for injuries resulting in hospitalization subsequent to ED treatment or injuries resulting in an ED visit followed by release (without hospitalization or other transfer) are shown below (Table 7). Each level of indentation corresponds to a data selection detail level (see Section 2.3). In instances where there is no further breakdown (e.g., traumatic brain injury) the category is repeated at the next level so that data can be reported for any or all injuries regardless of the selected level of detail.

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