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TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY (TBI) has received considerable attention by the media recently, especially bringing attention to the prevalence of TBI in sports-related activities. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), "A TBI is a bump, blow or jolt to the head or a penetrating head injury that disrupts the normal function of the brain."1 The CDC also notes that 2.5 million TBIs occurred in 2010 either as an isolated injury or along with other injuries. TBIs can occur in a variety of circumstances including accidental falls, especially for children or the elderly; unintentional blunt trauma, such as sportsrelated injuries; or during motor vehicle accidents and assaults.
ICD-10-CM captures traumatic brain injuries in category S06 - Intracranial injury. This category provides specific subcategories based upon the type of traumatic injury, including concussion, edema, contusion, laceration, and hemorrhage. The codes are further subdivided by site of the specific injury, including the cerebrum (right and left hemispheres or front of brain), cerebellum (back of brain), and brainstem (middle of brain including midbrain, pons, and medulla). Codes for traumatic hemorrhages also delineate the site, such as epidural, subdural, or subarachnoid.
The sixth character for codes in category S06 specify if loss of consciousness was present or not and the associated length of the loss of consciousness. Time frames are clearly defined into ranges of minutes and hours:
* 30 minutes or less
* 31-59 minutes
* 1 hour to 5 hours and 59 minutes
* 6 hours to 24 hours
For intracranial injuries that have loss of consciousness greater than 24 hours, the sixth character specifies if the patient returned to pre-existing consciousness level or did not return to pre-existing consciousness level but survived. There are also...