Struck by dolphin, initial encounter

This code describes an injury sustained by a patient who has been physically impacted by a dolphin. This could involve direct contact, such as being hit or pushed by the animal, resulting in various types of trauma.

Apply this code for any patient presenting with an injury directly attributable to a dolphin strike during their initial medical evaluation. This includes incidents occurring during swimming, diving, or other water-based activities where human-dolphin interaction leads to physical harm.

• Always use with an external cause code (V, W, X, Y category) to provide more detail about the circumstances of the injury.
• Ensure the "A" for initial encounter is appropriate; subsequent encounters will require different seventh characters.
• Document the specific nature of the injury (e.g., contusion, fracture) with an additional primary diagnosis code.