S32.021A vs S32.021D
S32.021A (Stable burst fracture of second lumbar vertebra, initial encounter for closed fracture) compared with S32.021D (Stable burst fracture of second lumbar vertebra, subsequent encounter for fracture with routine healing), from the official CMS tabular data. S32.021A and S32.021D code the same injury at a different phase of treatment.
Can these codes be reported together?
Same injury, other encounter phase. S32.021A and S32.021D 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
| S32.021AStable burst fracture of second lumbar vertebra, initial encounter for closed fracture | S32.021DStable burst fracture of second lumbar 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 | Stable burst fracture of second lumbar vertebra, initial encounter for closed fracture is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (S32.021A). | Stable burst fracture of second lumbar vertebra, subsequent encounter for fracture with routine healing is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (S32.021D). |
| 7th character | The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category S32 | The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category S32 |
| Includes | fracture of lumbosacral neural arch fracture of lumbosacral spinous process fracture of lumbosacral transverse process fracture of lumbosacral vertebra | fracture of lumbosacral neural arch fracture of lumbosacral spinous process fracture of lumbosacral transverse process fracture of lumbosacral vertebra |
| Code first | any associated spinal cord and spinal nerve injury (S34.-) | any associated spinal cord and spinal nerve injury (S34.-) |
Derived from the official CMS ICD-10-CM tabular data (FY2026). Not billing advice; verify sequencing rules for the encounter. All data sources