A02.24 vs M86.8X41

A02.24 (Salmonella osteomyelitis) compared with M86.8X41 (Other osteomyelitis, right hand), from the official CMS tabular data.

Summary

These codes should not be reported together because M86.8X41’s tabular entry lists A02.24 under Excludes1.

Official rule

What is different?

The conditions named and chapter.A02.24 is “Salmonella osteomyelitis”; M86.8X41 is “Other osteomyelitis, right hand”. A02.24 sits in A00-B99 — Certain Infectious and Parasitic Diseases (A00-B99); M86.8X41 in M00-M99 — Diseases of the Musculoskeletal System and Connective Tissue (M00-M99).

Registry fact

Can these codes be reported together?

No.M86.8X41’s entry carries an Excludes1 note covering A02.24: “salmonella (A02.24)”. Both may be reported only when the documentation shows the two conditions are unrelated to each other (ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, Section I.A.12.a).

Official ruleGuide: Excludes1 vs Excludes2

Is there an Excludes1 relationship?

Yes.M86.8X41’s tabular entry: “salmonella (A02.24)”. The note covers A02.24.

Official ruleGuide: Excludes1 vs Excludes2

Is there an Excludes2 relationship?

None.Neither entry carries an Excludes2 note that names the other code. M86.8X41 carries 4 Excludes2 notes covering other codes; the side-by-side table quotes them.

Official rule

Is one more specific?

Not comparable.The codes sit in different categories; specificity is only comparable within one category.

Is one a parent or header code?

No.Both are billable codes, and neither contains the other.

Registry fact

Are there sequencing instructions?

None.Neither entry carries a Code First or Use Additional Code note that names the other.

Official rule

Are there other coding relationships?

None found.No laterality, encounter-phase, Table of Neoplasms, Table of Drugs and Chemicals, or history-versus-active-disease relationship links these codes.

MedCoder-derived

Official rule: a tabular instructional note or a section of the ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, quoted as published. Registry fact: the codes’ own published attributes (titles, billable status, position in the hierarchy, code set). MedCoder-derived: a reading MedCoder computes from those facts; it is not itself a rule. How to read the labels

Can these codes be reported together?

Conflict

Excludes1 conflict

M86.8X41

Other osteomyelitis, right hand

↔

A02.24

Salmonella osteomyelitis

What we found

No — do not report together.M86.8X41 carries an Excludes1 note covering A02.24: “salmonella (A02.24)”

Sole exception: when the two conditions are documented as unrelated to each other (ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, Section I.A.12.a).

What to review

Report one of the two. Both may be reported only when the documentation shows the two conditions are unrelated to each other.

Guide: Excludes1 vs Excludes2 Check these on a claim

Why it matters

An Excludes1 note means the two conditions cannot occur together, so the pair should not be reported for the same encounter. The sole exception is when the conditions are documented as unrelated to each other.

Source / rule

CMS ICD-10-CM tabular instructional notes; ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, Section I.A.12.a

Official guidance behind these answers

Section I.A.12.a — Excludes1 · applies to: Excludes1
A type 1 Excludes note is a pure excludes note. It means “NOT CODED HERE!” An Excludes1 note indicates that the code excluded should never be used at the same time as the code above the Excludes1 note. An Excludes1 is used when two conditions cannot occur together, such as a congenital form versus an acquired form of the same condition. An exception to the Excludes1 definition is the circumstance when the two conditions are unrelated to each other. If it is not clear whether the two conditions involving an Excludes1 note are related or not, query the provider. For example, code F45.8, Other somatoform disorders, has an Excludes1 note for "sleep related teeth grinding (G47.63)," because "teeth grinding" is an inclusion term under F45.8. Only one of these two codes should be assigned for teeth grinding. However psychogenic dysmenorrhea is also an inclusion term under F45.8, and a patient could have both this condition and sleep related teeth grinding. In this case, the two conditions are clearly unrelated to each other, and so it would be appropriate to report F45.8 and G47.63 together.
ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines FY2026

Quoted from the ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting in effect for the release shown. The tabular notes above are the code-level instruction; these sections are the convention that says how such a note is applied. Source document (CMS PDF) · Release and checksum

Side by side

	A02.24Salmonella osteomyelitis	M86.8X41Other osteomyelitis, right hand
Billing status	Billable	Billable
Classification	A00-B99 — Certain Infectious and Parasitic Diseases (A00-B99)	M00-M99 — Diseases of the Musculoskeletal System and Connective Tissue (M00-M99)
Definition	Salmonella osteomyelitis is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (A02.24).	Other osteomyelitis, right hand is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (M86.8X41).
Includes	infection or foodborne intoxication due to any Salmonella species other than S. typhi and S. paratyphi	—
Excludes1	—	osteomyelitis due to: echinococcus (B67.2) gonococcus (A54.43) salmonella (A02.24) postprocedural osteopathies (M96.-)
Excludes2	—	ostemyelitis of: orbit (H05.0-) petrous bone (H70.2-) vertebra (M46.2-)
Use additional code	—	code (B95-B97) to identify infectious agent code to identify major osseous defect, if applicable (M89.7-)

Notes are the code’s own tabular entry, quoted as published. A note that names the other code is the one the verdict above rests on.

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Derived from the official CMS ICD-10-CM tabular data (FY2026). A coding-rule comparison, not billing advice: payer-specific edits and medical-necessity policy are outside its scope. All data sources