External cause

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External cause means the outside reason that led to a medical condition, often an injury. Health records use E codes (ICD-9-CM) or ICD-10 codes to describe how the injury happened and where it occurred. On death certificates, these codes show the manner of death. In ICD-10, the ranges are: V01–X59 for unintentional injuries, X60–X84 for intentional self-harm, Y85–Y09 for assault, and Y10–Y34 for events with undetermined intent. E codes are usually well recorded on death certificates, but less so in hospital records. Programs have worked to improve how often records include these codes.