Posted By Tabs What else? Penetration perhaps. Are you avoiding the word because you attach a different meaning or severity to it than it has? It seems to satisfy the terms of impalement :-)

Posted By Safe System actually .... here is a good reference to others i found.. - Incisions or incised wounds: caused by a clean, sharp-edged object such as a knife, a razor or a glass splinter. - Lacerations: irregular tear-like wounds caused by some blunt trauma. The term laceration is commonly misused in reference to incisions. - Abrasions (grazes): superficial wounds in which the topmost layer of the skin (the epidermis) is scraped off. Abrasions are often caused by a sliding fall onto a rough surface. - Puncture wounds: caused by an object puncturing the skin, such as a nail or needle. - Penetration wounds: caused by an object such as a knife entering the body. I'll go with puncture wound....

Posted By A Campbell IMOH I would not be likely to report this as a penetration injury... treat as a puncture wound as is likely to have only penetrated the skin tissue not internal organs.