J98.2 vs T79.7
J98.2 (Interstitial emphysema) compared with T79.7 (Traumatic subcutaneous emphysema), from the official CMS tabular data. Do not report these codes together: the official tabular list marks them Excludes1.
Can these codes be reported together?
No — do not report together. J98.2 carries an Excludes1 note covering T79.7: “traumatic subcutaneous emphysema (T79.7)”
Sole exception: when the two conditions are documented as unrelated to each other (ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, Section I.A.12.a).
Side by side
| J98.2Interstitial emphysema | T79.7Traumatic subcutaneous emphysema | |
|---|---|---|
| Billing status | Billable | Non-billable header |
| Classification | J00-J99 — Diseases of the Respiratory System (J00-J99) | S00-T88 — Injury, Poisoning and Certain Other Consequences of External Causes (S00-T88) |
| Definition | Interstitial emphysema is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (J98.2). | Traumatic subcutaneous emphysema is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (T79.7). |
| 7th character | — | The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category T79 |
| Includes | Mediastinal emphysema | — |
| Use additional code | code to identify: exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (Z77.22) exposure to tobacco smoke in the perinatal period (P96.81) | — |
Derived from the official CMS ICD-10-CM tabular data (FY2026). Not billing advice; verify sequencing rules for the encounter. All data sources