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S20.451 vs S20.452

S20.451 (Superficial foreign body of right back wall of thorax) compared with S20.452 (Superficial foreign body of left back wall of thorax), from the official CMS tabular data. S20.451 and S20.452 code the same condition on opposite sides.

Relationship

Review

Laterality relationship

S20.451
Right
Superficial foreign body of right back wall of thorax
S20.452
Left
Superficial foreign body of left back wall of thorax

Same condition; these differ only in which side is documented.

These codes share a category and title and differ only in the side affected. The documentation decides which applies, and a bilateral code is reported only where the code set provides one.

Source: ICD-10-CM tabular list (laterality variant derived from the code title)

Can these codes be reported together?

Same condition, opposite side. S20.451 and S20.452 name the same condition on opposite sides of the body.

Same category and title, differing only in which side is affected — the documentation decides which one applies, and a bilateral code is reported only where the code set provides one.

Side by side

S20.451Superficial foreign body of right back wall of thoraxS20.452Superficial foreign body of left back wall of thorax
Billing statusNon-billable header

Report instead: S20.451A, S20.451D, S20.451S

Non-billable header

Report instead: S20.452A, S20.452D, S20.452S

ClassificationS00-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)
DefinitionSuperficial foreign body of right back wall of thorax is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (S20.451).Superficial foreign body of left back wall of thorax is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (S20.452).
7th characterThe appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category S20The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category S20
Includes
injuries of breast
injuries of chest (wall)
injuries of interscapular area
injuries of breast
injuries of chest (wall)
injuries of interscapular area

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