The new AIS (Abbreviated Injury Scale) was released with an update by the AAAM 
(Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine) in 2008. It is a 
universal scoring system in the field of trauma applicable in clinic and 
research. In engineering it is used as a classification system for vehicle 
safety. The AIS can therefore be considered as an international, 
interdisciplinary and universal code of injury severity. This review focuses on 
a historical overview, potential applications and new coding options in the 
current version and also outlines the associated problems.