S00.85XA vs S06.2

S00.85XA (Superficial foreign body of other part of head, initial encounter) compared with S06.2 (Diffuse traumatic brain injury), from the official CMS tabular data. Do not report these codes together: the official tabular list marks them Excludes1.

Relationship

Conflict

Excludes1 conflict

S00.85XA

Superficial foreign body of other part of head, initial encounter

↔

S06.2

Diffuse traumatic brain injury

Not coded here — these two are mutually exclusive.

“diffuse cerebral contusion (S06.2-)”

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

Can these codes be reported together?

No — do not report together. S00.85XA carries an Excludes1 note covering S06.2: “diffuse cerebral contusion (S06.2-)”

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

	S00.85XASuperficial foreign body of other part of head, initial encounter	S06.2Diffuse traumatic brain injury
Billing status	Billable	Non-billable header
Classification	S00-T88 — Injury, Poisoning and Certain Other Consequences of External Causes (S00-T88)	S00-T88 — Injury, Poisoning and Certain Other Consequences of External Causes (S00-T88)
Definition	Superficial foreign body of other part of head, initial encounter is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (S00.85A).	Diffuse traumatic brain injury is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (S06.2).
7th character	The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category S00	The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category S06, except as noted below
Includes	injuries of ear injuries of eye injuries of face [any part] injuries of gum	traumatic brain injury injuries of ear injuries of eye injuries of face [any part]
Use additional code	—	code, if applicable, for traumatic brain compression or herniation (S06.A-) code, if applicable, to identify mild neurocognitive disorders due to known physiological condition (F06.7-)

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Derived from the official CMS ICD-10-CM tabular data (FY2026). Not billing advice; verify sequencing rules for the encounter. All data sources