Guidelines for Coding External Causes of Injuries, Poisonings, and Adverse Effects of Drugs (E Codes)

The "E" codes are supplemental to the basic ICD-9-CM codes and should be used in addition to a code in categories 001-V84.  "E" diagnosis codes should not be submitted as the primary of sole diagnosis on claims.

Injuries are a major cause of mortality, morbidity and disability.  External causes of injury and poisoning codes (E codes) are intended to provide data for injury research and evaluation of injury prevention strategies.  E codes capture how the injury or poisoning happened (cause), the intent (unintentional or accidental, or intentional, such as suicide or assault), and the place where the event occurred.