Defining neurotrauma in administrative data using the International Classification of Diseases Tenth Revision

PubMed, Web of Science, Medline and the grey literature were searched for keywords "spinal cord injuries" or "brain injuries" and "international classification of diseases". All papers and reports that used an ICD-10 definition were included. To determine the ICD-10 codes for inclusion consensus across papers and additional evidence were sought to look at the correlation between the condition and brain or spinal injuries.Twenty-four articles and reports were identified; 15 unique definitions for TBI and 7 for SCI were found. The definitions recommended for use in Ontario by this paper are F07.2, S02.0, S02.1, S02.3, S02.7, S02.8, S02.9, S06, S07.1, T90.2, and T90.5 for traumatic brain injuries and S14.0, S14.1, S24.0, S24.1, S34.1, S34.0, S34.3, T06.0, T06.1 and T91.3 for spinal cord injuries.Internationally, inconsistent definitions are used to define brain and spinal cord injuries. An abstraction study of data would be an asset in understanding the effects of inclusion and exclusion of codes in the definition. This paper offers a definition of neurotrauma for surveillance in Ontario, but the definition could be applied to other countries that have mandated administrative data collection.The World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized the importance of surveillance systems for neurotrauma to inform prevention programs, as well as to inform the population of the significance of brain and spinal cord injuries [1]. When creating a surveillance system the definition of the condition of interest will affect the estimate and comparability of the estimate both within a country and between countries. The use of administrative medical data is attractive for neurotrauma surveillance because it is collected systematically and it is less expensive than independently collecting data. It is particularly attractive in countries with universal health insurance because data collection will also be comprehensive. However, the use of administrative data requires the translation of