There are two fundamental maps that were generated concurrently to use ICD codes to map to AIS. The first one is the “Serious Injury” or dichotomous map that meets the requirements of the injury health community and others to report on serious injury using AIS severity. This map is available with the purchase of an AIS2008 dictionary at no additional cost. If a user desires to determine whether an injury is AIS 3+ or < AIS 3, this ICD-Serious Injury map is required. This map operates at a level of granularity that agrees very well with the mismatch in resolutions and descriptions between the two dictionaries (ICD and AIS).
A second map was constructed using the same concept equivalency mapping that was done for the dichotomous map, however a more difficult correlation was performed. This map is called a “Primary Injury” map that meets the requirements of researchers and individuals doing more advanced analysis and reporting with ICD codes. This map provides the AIS severity, AIS chapter, and ISS body region for the most appropriate AIS code(s) from a single choice from an equivalency association with ICD. If a user desires to calculate an Injury Severity Scale (ISS), this ICD-ISS map is required.