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S21.141 vs S21.142

S21.141 (Puncture wound with foreign body of right front wall of thorax without penetration into thoracic cavity) compared with S21.142 (Puncture wound with foreign body of left front wall of thorax without penetration into thoracic cavity), from the official CMS tabular data. S21.141 and S21.142 code the same condition on opposite sides.

Relationship

Review

Laterality relationship

S21.141
Right
Puncture wound with foreign body of right front wall of thorax without penetration into thoracic cavity
↔
S21.142
Left
Puncture wound with foreign body of left front wall of thorax without penetration into thoracic cavity

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. S21.141 and S21.142 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

S21.141Puncture wound with foreign body of right front wall of thorax without penetration into thoracic cavityS21.142Puncture wound with foreign body of left front wall of thorax without penetration into thoracic cavity
Billing statusNon-billable headerNon-billable header
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)
DefinitionPuncture wound with foreign body of right front wall of thorax without penetration into thoracic cavity is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (S21.141).Puncture wound with foreign body of left front wall of thorax without penetration into thoracic cavity is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (S21.142).
7th characterThe appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category S21The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category S21
Includes
injuries of breast
injuries of chest (wall)
injuries of interscapular area
injuries of breast
injuries of chest (wall)
injuries of interscapular area
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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