Introduction: The Barell body region by nature of injury diagnosis matrix standardizes data selection and reports, using a two dimensional array (matrix) that includes all International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-9-CM codes describing trauma. Aim: To provide a standard format for reports from trauma registries, hospital discharge data systems, emergency department data systems, or other sources of non-fatal injury data. This tool could also be used to characterize the patterns of injury using a manageable number of clinically meaningful diagnostic categories and to serve as a standard for casemix comparison across time and place. Concept: The matrix displays 12 nature of injury columns and 36 body region rows placing each ICD-9-CM code in the range from 800 to 995 in a unique cell location in the matrix. Each cell includes the codes associated with a given injury. The matrix rows and columns can easily be collapsed to get broader groupings or expanded if more specific sites are required. The current matrix offers three standard levels of detail through predefined collapsing of body regions from 36 rows to nine rows to five rows. Matrix development: This paper presents stages in the development and the major concepts and properties of the matrix, using data from the Israeli national trauma registry, and from the US National Hospital Discharge Survey. The matrix introduces new ideas such as the separation of traumatic brain injury (TBI), into three types. Injuries to the eye have been separated from other facial injuries. Other head injuries such as open wounds and burns were categorized separately. Injuries to the spinal cord and spinal column were also separated as are the abdomen and pelvis. Extremities have been divided into upper and lower with a further subdivision into more specific regions. Hip fractures were separated from other lower extremity fractures. Forthcoming developments: The matrix will be used for the development of standard methods for the analysis of multiple injuries and the creation of patient injury profiles. To meet the growing use of ICD-10 and to be applicable to a wider range of countries, the matrix will be translated to ICD-10 and eventually to ICD-10-CM. Conclusion: The Barell injury diagnosis matrix has the potential to serve as a basic tool in epidemiological and clinical analyses of injury data.

An increase of terror-related activities may necessitate treatment of mass casualty incidents, requiring a broadening of existing skills and knowledge of various injury mechanisms. To characterize and compare injuries from gunshot and explosion caused by terrorist acts. A retrospective cohort study of patients recorded in the Israeli National Trauma Registry (ITR), all due to terror-related injuries, between October 1, 2000, to June 30, 2002. The ITR records all casualty admissions to hospitals, in-hospital deaths, and transfers at 9 of the 23 trauma centers in Israel. All 6 level I trauma centers and 3 of the largest regional trauma centers in the country are included. The registry includes the majority of severe terror-related injuries. Injury diagnoses, severity scores, hospital resource utilization parameters, length of stay (LOS), survival, and disposition. A total of 1155 terror-related injuries: 54% by explosion, 36% gunshot wounds (GSW), and 10% by other means. This paper focused on the 2 larger patient subsets: 1033 patients injured by terror-related explosion or GSW. Seventy-one percent of the patients were male, 84% in the GSW group and 63% in the explosion group. More than half (53%) of the patients were 15 to 29 years old, 59% in the GSW group and 48% in the explosion group. GSW patients suffered higher proportions of open wounds (63% versus 53%) and fractures (42% versus 31%). Multiple body-regions injured in a single patient occurred in 62% of explosion victims versus 47% in GSW patients. GSW patients had double the proportion of moderate injuries than explosion victims. Explosion victims have a larger proportion of minor injuries on one hand and critical to fatal injuries on the other. LOS was longer than 2 weeks for 20% (22% in explosion, 18% in GSW). Fifty-one percent of the patients underwent a surgical procedure, 58% in the GSW group and 46% in explosion group. Inpatient death rate was 6.3% (65 patients), 7.8% in the GSW group compared with 5.3% in the explosion group. A larger proportion of gunshot victims died during the first day (97% versus 58%). GSW and injuries from explosions differ in the body region of injury, distribution of severity, LOS, intensive care unit (ICU) stay, and time of inpatient death. These findings have implications for treatment and for preparedness of hospital resources to treat patients after a terrorist attack in any region of the world. Tailored protocol for patient evaluation and initial treatment should differ between GSW and explosion victims. Hospital organization toward treating and admitting these patients should take into account the different arrival and injury patterns.

The destructive human consequences of terrorist bombing always challenge the medical system in diagnosis, decision making, and patient management. This injury is produced by multiple injury mechanisms, and departs from the conventional description of trauma complexity. Our objective was to characterize and compare terror-bombing victims with casualties of all other kinds of trauma, and to validate the existence of a different, more complex, injury pattern. A retrospective cohort study was conducted of patient records from October 2000 through June 2003 in the Israeli National Trauma Registry. All were categorized as victims of terrorist bombings or of nonterror-related trauma. Analysis included age, gender, Injury Severity Score, Glasgow Coma Scale, admission blood pressure, injury complexity, surgical interventions, intensive care and hospital lengths of stay, in-hospital mortality, and disposition. This analysis was extended to Injury Severity Score subgroups. Victims of terrorist bombings (n = 906) were compared with 55,033 casualties of nonterror-related trauma. Bombing resulted in significantly different injury complexity, increased severity, and with more body regions involved. Significantly enhanced use of intensive care, prolonged hospital stay, more surgical interventions, and increased hospital mortality are characteristic of these patients. Terrorist bombings inflict injury of a distinctly different pattern than other means of trauma. The simultaneous combination of different injury mechanisms in explosions results in a multidimensional injury pattern and a complicated clinical course. Hospital preparedness and medical team awareness to the unique nature of the injuries are mandatory for improving the outcomes of these patients.