S22.049A (Unspecified fracture of fourth thoracic vertebra, initial encounter for closed fracture) compared with S22.049S (Unspecified fracture of fourth thoracic vertebra, sequela), from the official CMS tabular data. S22.049A and S22.049S code the same injury at a different phase of treatment.
Same underlying diagnosis, different encounter phase.
The 7th character records the phase of care for the encounter being coded, so a single encounter takes one of these characters, not several. Review whether both phases belong on the same episode of care.
Source: ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, Section I.C.19.a
Same injury, other encounter phase. S22.049A and S22.049S 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.
| S22.049AUnspecified fracture of fourth thoracic vertebra, initial encounter for closed fracture | S22.049SUnspecified fracture of fourth thoracic vertebra, sequela | |
|---|---|---|
| Billing status | Billable | Billable |
| 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 | Unspecified fracture of fourth thoracic vertebra, initial encounter for closed fracture is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (S22.049A). | Unspecified fracture of fourth thoracic vertebra, sequela is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (S22.049S). |
| 7th character | The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category S22 | The 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