S22.078A (Other fracture of T9-T10 vertebra, initial encounter for closed fracture) compared with S22.078D (Other fracture of T9-T10 vertebra, subsequent encounter for fracture with routine healing), from the official CMS tabular data. S22.078A and S22.078D 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. S22.078A and S22.078D 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.
| S22.078AOther fracture of T9-T10 vertebra, initial encounter for closed fracture | S22.078DOther fracture of T9-T10 vertebra, subsequent encounter for fracture with routine healing | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Other fracture of T9-T10 vertebra, initial encounter for closed fracture is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (S22.078A). | Other fracture of T9-T10 vertebra, subsequent encounter for fracture with routine healing is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (S22.078D). |
| 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