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S22.041A vs S22.041S

S22.041A (Stable burst fracture of fourth thoracic vertebra, initial encounter for closed fracture) compared with S22.041S (Stable burst fracture of fourth thoracic vertebra, sequela), from the official CMS tabular data. S22.041A and S22.041S code the same injury at a different phase of treatment.

Can these codes be reported together?

Same injury, other encounter phase. S22.041A and S22.041S code the same injury at a different phase of treatment, set by the 7th character.

The 7th character records the type of care given at the encounter being coded (ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, Section I.C.19.a), so one encounter takes one of these, not both.

Side by side

S22.041AStable burst fracture of fourth thoracic vertebra, initial encounter for closed fractureS22.041SStable burst fracture of fourth thoracic vertebra, sequela
Billing statusBillableBillable
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)
DefinitionStable burst fracture of fourth thoracic vertebra, initial encounter for closed fracture is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (S22.041A).Stable burst fracture of fourth thoracic vertebra, sequela is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (S22.041S).
7th characterThe appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category S22The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category S22
Includes
fracture of thoracic neural arch
fracture of thoracic spinous process
fracture of thoracic transverse process
fracture of thoracic vertebra
fracture of thoracic neural arch
fracture of thoracic spinous process
fracture of thoracic transverse process
fracture of thoracic vertebra
Code first
, if applicable, spinal cord injury (S24.0-, S24.1-)
, if applicable, spinal cord injury (S24.0-, S24.1-)

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