*Injury codes for human bites, external cause*
Coding Clinic, Fourth Quarter 2000 Page: 61 to 62 Effective with discharges: October 1, 2000
External Cause of Injury Codes for Human Bites
In order to more specifically track injuries caused by human bites, codes E928.3 and E968.7 have been created. Prior to October 1, 2000, human bites were included in a broad category that included intentional or homicidal electrical shock, criminal abortion with injury to a child, and homicidal crash of an aircraft.
Human bites can be caused by either an intentional bite or from a situation where the victim accidentally injures his body on someone else's teeth. Bites are very common, especially among young children. Puncture wounds are common with human bites and may be at high risk for infection. There is also risk of injury to tendons and joints. Bite injuries represent 1% of all emergency department encounters in the United States, and human bites are the third most common following dog and cat bites. Human bites can vary from an uninfected abrasion to cellulitis or osteomyelitis. An estimated 10% of human bite injuries become infected. Management consists of wound care, assessment of risk of disease transmission, antibiotic therapy, and surgical intervention, if necessary.
E928 Other and unspecified environmental and accidental causes
New code E928.3 Human bite
E968 Assault by other and unspecified means
New code E968.7 Human bite
So, I think E928.8 is the only option for this scenario.
