Coding fractures in ICD10: Difference between revisions

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== Coding instructions ==
== Coding instructions ==
*There are two main categories of fractures: (a) due to trauma/injury, and (b) nontraumatic fractures
 
===Main Categories===
There are two main categories of fractures:  
*Due to trauma/injury -- by definition these have a so-called '''external''' cause or mechanism of injury".  This means that the fracture was due to something enternal to the patient, such as getting hit by a baseball bat, or hitting their head on the pavement after falling off a ladder.
*Nontraumatic fractures -- for these the main cause is something ''internal'' to the patient, such as a metastatic tumor to bone that weakens it. 
**While in these cases the fracture might well happen after some relatively minor stress to that bone (e.g. trying to open a jar of pickles), these should be included in the nontraumatic fracture categtory unless that stress would have led to a fracture in the absence of whatever weakened the bone.


===Fractures due to trauma or injury===
===Fractures due to trauma or injury===