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H05.5 vs T15.02XA

H05.5 (Retained (old) foreign body following penetrating wound of orbit) compared with T15.02XA (Foreign body in cornea, left eye, initial encounter), from the official CMS tabular data.

Summary

These codes can be reported together when both conditions are documented, because T15.02XA lists H05.5 under Excludes2, which marks them as distinct conditions.

Official rule
What is different?

The conditions named, billing status and chapter.H05.5 is “Retained (old) foreign body following penetrating wound of orbit”; T15.02XA is “Foreign body in cornea, left eye, initial encounter”. H05.5 is a non-billable header; T15.02XA is billable. H05.5 sits in H00-H59 — Diseases of the Eye and Adnexa (H00-H59); T15.02XA in S00-T88 — Injury, Poisoning and Certain Other Consequences of External Causes (S00-T88).

Registry fact

Can these codes be reported together?

Yes, when both are documented.T15.02XA lists H05.5 under Excludes2: “retained (old) foreign body in penetrating wound of orbit and eye ball (H05.5-, H44.6-, H44.7-)”. Excludes2 marks distinct conditions that may both be reported when both are documented.

Official ruleGuide: Excludes1 vs Excludes2

Is there an Excludes1 relationship?

None.Neither entry carries an Excludes1 note that names the other code. H05.5 carries 2 Excludes1 notes covering other codes; the side-by-side table quotes them.

Official rule

Is there an Excludes2 relationship?

Yes.T15.02XA’s tabular entry: “retained (old) foreign body in penetrating wound of orbit and eye ball (H05.5-, H44.6-, H44.7-)”. The note covers H05.5.

Official ruleGuide: Excludes1 vs Excludes2

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?

One is a header.H05.5 is a non-billable header, but T15.02XA is not one of its subdivisions.

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?

Informational

Excludes2 relationship

T15.02XA
Foreign body in cornea, left eye, initial encounter
↔
H05.5
Retained (old) foreign body following penetrating wound of orbit

What we found

Yes, when both are documented.T15.02XA carries an Excludes2 note covering H05.5: “retained (old) foreign body in penetrating wound of orbit and eye ball (H05.5-, H44.6-, H44.7-)”

Excludes2 marks distinct conditions — both may be reported when both are documented.

What to review

Report both only when the documentation supports both conditions; otherwise report the one documented.

Guide: Excludes1 vs Excludes2Check these on a claim

Why it matters

An Excludes2 note means the excluded condition is not part of the code above it, but a patient can have both. Report both when both are documented.

Source / rule

CMS ICD-10-CM tabular instructional notes

Official guidance behind these answers

  • Section I.A.12.b — Excludes2 · applies to: Excludes2

    A type 2 Excludes note represents “Not included here.” An excludes2 note indicates that the condition excluded is not part of the condition represented by the code, but a patient may have both conditions at the same time. When an Excludes2 note appears under a code, it is acceptable to use both the code and the excluded code together, when appropriate.

    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

H05.5Retained (old) foreign body following penetrating wound of orbitT15.02XAForeign body in cornea, left eye, initial encounter
Billing statusNon-billable header

Report instead: H05.50, H05.51, H05.52, H05.53

Billable
ClassificationH00-H59 — Diseases of the Eye and Adnexa (H00-H59)S00-T88 — Injury, Poisoning and Certain Other Consequences of External Causes (S00-T88)
DefinitionRetained (old) foreign body following penetrating wound of orbit is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (H05.5).Foreign body in cornea, left eye, initial encounter is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (T15.02XA).
7th character—The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category T15
Includes
Retrobulbar foreign body
—
Excludes1
current penetrating wound of orbit (S05.4-)
congenital malformation of orbit (Q10.7)
—
Excludes2
retained foreign body of eyelid (H02.81-)
retained intraocular foreign body (H44.6-, H44.7-)
open wound of eyelid (S01.1-)
superficial injury of eyelid (S00.1-, S00.2-)
foreign body in penetrating wound of orbit and eye ball (S05.4-, S05.5-)
open wound of eyelid and periocular area (S01.1-)
retained foreign body in eyelid (H02.8-)
retained (old) foreign body in penetrating wound of orbit and eye ball (H05.5-, H44.6-, H44.7-)
superficial foreign body of eyelid and periocular area (S00.25-)
foreign body accidentally left in operation wound (T81.5-)
foreign body in penetrating wound - See open wound by body region
residual foreign body in soft tissue (M79.5)
splinter, without open wound - See superficial injury by body region
Use additional code
code to identify the type of retained foreign body (Z18.-)
code, if known, for foreign body entering into or through a natural orifice (W44.-)

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 (FY2027). A coding-rule comparison, not billing advice: payer-specific edits and medical-necessity policy are outside its scope. All data sources