Injuries arising from complications of care
Complications of care were the second most common cause of hospital-onset injury, after falls. Within this group, more than half were ’abnormal reactions or later complications arising from surgical procedures without mention of unintentional events at the time of the procedure’ (excluding injury diagnoses in the range T80-T88) (Table 2).
| Cause | Number of injuries | Per cent of injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Surgical operation and other surgical procedures as the cause of abnormal reaction, or later complication, without mention of unintentional events at the time of the procedure | 19,384 | 53.0 |
| Unintentional events during surgical and medical care | 13,706 | 36.6 |
| Drugs, medicaments and biological substances causing adverse effects in therapeutic use | 2,360 | 6.3 |
| Medical devices associated with unintentional events in diagnostic and therapeutic use | 1,520 | 4.1 |
Notes:
- Data show the percentage of hospital-onset complications of care from 2020–21 to 2024–25 combined.
- Hospital-onset injuries exclude diagnosis codes T80-T88 Complications of surgical and medical care and T90-T98 Sequalae of injuries, of poisoning and of other external causes.
- Analysis excludes care types 7.3, 9, 10, and separations for same day chemotherapy or haemodialysis.
- Downloadable data tables are available on Data. See Table S18.
Source: AIHW analysis of the National Hospital Morbidity Database
The most common injuries caused by complications of care (excluding injury diagnoses in the range T80-T88) in 2024–25 were injuries to internal organs (25%) and superficial injuries (15%) (Figure 12). This distribution was similar for each year covered in this report.
Figure 12: Ten most common hospital-onset injury types associated with complications of surgical and medical care, 2024–25
Horizontal bar chart showing ten most common hospital-onset injury types linked to surgical and medical care complications for 2024-25. Internal organs injuries lead with 25%, followed by superficial injuries at 15%, open wounds at 11%, and fractures at 10%, with other injury types ranging from 1% to 7%.
| Injury type | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Internal organs | 25% |
| Superficial injury | 15% |
| Open wound | 11% |
| Fracture | 10% |
| Other specified and/or multiple injuries | 7% |
| Burn | 6% |
| Blood vessels | 6% |
| Nerve injury | 5% |
| Foreign object (through orifice) | 5% |
| Soft-tissue injury | 1% |
- Data are presented as a percentage of all hospital-onset injury diagnoses with external cause codes in the range Y80-Y84 Complications of surgical and medical care in 2023–24.
- Hospital-onset injuries exclude diagnosis codes T80-T88 Complications of surgical and medical care and Y90-Y98 Sequelae of injuries, of poisoning and of other external causes.
- Analysis excludes care types 7.3, 9, 10, and separations for same day chemotherapy or haemodialysis.
Downloadable data tables are available on Data. See Table S21.
Source:
AIHW analysis of the National Hospital Morbidity Database
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Data source overview