External cause
In medicine, an external cause is a reason for the existence of a medical condition which can be associated with a specific object or acute process that was caused by something outside the body. Such causes are classified as "" in ICD 9.
External Cause of Injury Codes are ICD-9-CM codes or ICD-10 codes that are used to define the mechanism of death or injury, along with the place of occurrence of the event. E codes are assigned on death certificates based on the manner of death. ICD-10 codes in the range V01–X59 refer to unintentional injuries. Codes in the range X60–X84 refer to intentional self-harm. Codes in the range Y85–Y09 refer to assault, and codes in the range Y10–Y34 refer to events of undetermined intent.
E codes are well-collected on death certificate data, but less so on hospital discharge data. Numerous initiatives have increased the percentage of records coded.
