When someone goes to the doctor for an injury, the doctor has to record the injury with a code — which covers everything from bug bites to water ski accidents to getting hit by a baseball — for health insurance claim purposes. W2202, for example, is “walked into a lamppost,” while W6132 is “struck by a chicken” — something that sent 200 patients to the hospital last year.
Here are some of the strangest injuries that doctors recorded in 2016:
- 17,200 patients walked into a wall
- 25,000 walked into a piece of furniture
- 400 walked into a lamppost
- 3,400 came in “contact with a powered lawn mower”
- 300 were bitten by a pig
- 10,000 were “accidentally” bitten by another person
- 1,700 were struck by a cow
- 8,700 were kicked by another person
And 600 were recorded as “contact with sword or dagger,"
Source: New York Post